Advanced French Tune-up: Getting Your Adjectives

In Key and On Beat

So, youve been banging away at thisFrench gamefor a while now.

And sure, youve got quite a few adjectives in your repertoire, and you know more or less how to
work them into the rhythm of a sentence.

But are you ready to sing that knowledge from the rooftops?

Okay, so maybe you haventreallythought twice about adjectives since your early days.

And no wonder! Youve had other things on your plate as youve hiked the long, treacherous path
from beginning to advanced French.

Youve had tonegotiate the subjunctive,get the past tenses nailed downanddevelop those all-
important listening skills.

So lets revisit adjectives, an essential part ofFrench vocabularyand a beacon of descriptive hope!

After all, you need them to say how you really feel, embellish and trash talk.

For a complete review of French adjective usage and a shiny new list of adjectives especially for you,
the advanced French learner, read on.

Now that youve got your big kid pants on, lets iron out the wrinkles and make sure youve got all the
rules (and exceptions) down pat.

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How to Use French Adjectives: The Advanced Edition

Yeah, you use them to describe a noun. We know that part. Theyre the same in English. So what on
earth could we mean by how to use them? Well, you cant just go throwing them around willy-nilly.
Theyve got a place, a way and they have cousins, too. So get these three points down before you start
going crazy with your descriptions.

1. Put adjectives in their place

To be before the noun or to be after the noun? That is the question. Back in your early days, you
probably went over this in French class and skimmed over it in your textbook. It may not have seemed
like a huge concern. But now you want your French to be top-notch, no details left out, and for that
you need to be certain of whether that adjective is going before or after the noun.

It Goes Before the Noun If

Remember this nice little acronym:B-A-N-G-S.

Beauty:Adjectives likejoli(e)(pretty)andbelle/beau(beautiful)go before the noun, because they

describe beauty.

Age:Adjectives likejeune(young)andvieux/vieille(old)go before the noun.

Numbers:Ha! Bet you forgot numbers can be adjectives! No? You didnt? Okay. Well, they go in
front of the noun, in case you forgot.

Goodness:Adjectives that you use to say how good or bad something is, likebon(ne)(good)
andmauvais(e)(bad),will go before the noun.

Size:Adjectives likepetit(e)(small),gros(se)(fat) andhaut(e)(high)are front-runners as well.

EXCEPTION:Grand(e)used before a person means great, as inun grand homme(a great man), but
after a person means tall. Soun homme grandisa tall man.

Okay, one more thing. Nope, were still not done here.

We didnt add this to the acronym, because theres just no room for anF,unless you want to call itB-
FANGS. Adjectivesthat arefunctional, as in they dont really serve to describe, will go before the
noun. Heres a little list for you:

autreother
plusieursseveral
mmesame
premire, deuxime, troisime, etc.rst, second, third
double, tripledouble, triple

It Goes After the Noun If

Yay! Start cheering, because most descriptive adjectives go after the noun. Unlike in English, where
saying the cup big might get you some funny looks, adjectives default spot is after the noun in
French.

So if were talkingcolor, taste, personality, mood, nationalityorreligious afliation,then they go

after the noun. Basically, when in doubt, just rememberBANGS, (orB-FANGSif youre up for using
a rapper name), and in all other cases, tack it after the noun.

Advanced Bonus: Adjectives That Have Multiple Personality Disorder

Im sorry, did I say at any point that French adjectives were simple? Nope, but dont worry, were
going to explain these fun little exceptions and anomalies as coolly and easily as possible.

There are some adjectives that completely change meaning based on where you decide to put them.

Heres the main list:

ancien(ne) before:former /after: old, ancient

un ancien palais(a former palace)

un palais ancien(an ancient palace)

seul(e) before: only / after: lonely

le seulhippopotame(the only hippopotamus)

lhippopotame seul(the lonely hippopotamus)

certain(e) before: particular / after: sure

une certaine marque(a certain brand)

une valeur certaine(a sure winner)

cher/chre before: dear / after: expensive

ma chre bague(my precious ring)

ma bague chre(my expensive ring)

gros(se) before: big / after: fat

le gros chat(the big cat)

le chat gros(the fat cat)

brave before: amiable / after: courageous

un brave hros(a likable hero)

un hros brave(a courageous hero)

curieux/curieuse before: strange / after: inquisitive

un curieux tudiant(a strange student)

 un tudiant curieux(an inquisitive student)

pauvre before: wretched / after: not rich

une pauvre veuve(a wretched widow)

une veuve pauvre(a not rich widow)

pur(e) before: simple / after: untainted

un pur esprit(a simple mind)

un esprit pur(an untainted mind)

propre before: ownership / after: clean

ma propre voiture(my own car)

ma voiture propre(my clean car)

So yeah, be careful with these adjectives, as using them incorrectly could lead to some unhappy mix-
ups.

In addition, there are a few that have an even smaller distinction depending on whether they are before
or after the noun.

If youre an advanced learner whos ready to get extra nitpicky, here they are:

rare before: rare as in precious / after: rare as in infrequent

une rare peinture(a precious painting)

une peinture rare(a rare painting)

sale before: dirty, nasty, rotten / after:physically dirty

une sale pense(a rotten thought)

une chemise sale(a dirty shirt)

vrai(e) before: real, serious / after: real, true

une vraie histoire(a serious story)

une histoire vraie(a true story)

 vritable before: real, serious / after: real, genuine

un vritable discours(a serious speech)

un discours vritable(a genuine discourse)

2. Is it a boy or a girl?

Ah, everyones favorite grammar rule: gender agreement! As you know, adjectives need to agree with
the noun they are describing. For example, you can have eitherune vieille pomme(an old apple) orun
vieux yaourt(an old yogurt). By the way, eww, but you see what Im getting at. Sometimes its
straightforward and sometimes, not so much. For a more in-depth discussion on French gender rules,
checkthis postout. For now, lets just talk adjective rules.

The Easy to Remember Endings

As a seasoned French connoisseur, you may be aware of a chunk of the gender and quantity agreement
rules. For example, with most adjectives you just tack on anefor feminine, ansfor masculine plural
and anesfor feminine plural. This works with a lot of the common adjectives, like these:

vert/e/s(green)

bleu/e/s(blue)

content/e/s(happy)

grand/e/s(great/tall)

But of course weve got some endings that just wont conform. Here are our rebel endings and what to
do with them.

If the masculine singular ends with ane, then it will bethe samefor the feminine, like with these
adjectives:

confortable(comfortable)

splendide(splendid)

mince(thin)

For the plural, you simply add ans.

If the masculine singular ends with anx, then it will end withsefor the feminine:

dlicieux/dlicieuse(delicious)
 paresseux/parasseuse(lazy)

peureux/peureuse(fearful)

For the masculine plural it staysthe same,and for the feminine plural, add ans.

If the masculine singular ends with anf, then it will end withvefor the feminine:

impulsif/impulsive(impulsive)

naf/nave(nave)

vif/vive(active)

For the plural, you simply add ans.

If the masculine singular ends wither, then it will end withrefor the feminine:

entier/entire(entire)

er/re(proud)

lger/lgre(light)

For the plural, you simply add ans.

Sometimes, if themasculine singular ends in a consonant liken,sorl, then it will end with
adouble consonant and anefor the feminine, like with these:

bon/bonne(good)

cruel/cruelle(cruel)

gros/grosse(fat)

For the plural, youll usually adds,unless it already ends in ans, in which case you do nothing.

The Ones You Need to Think About Real Hard

And of course, there are the exceptions, the ones that change COMPLETELY when you try to make
them feminine.

These, if you havent already memorized them, need to go into your brains French vault:

(These are listed in this order: masculine/feminine/masculine plural/feminine plural.)

beau/belle/beaux/belles(beautiful)

doux/douce/doux/douces(sweet)

faux/fausse/faux/fausses(false)

public/publique/publics/publiques(public)

nouveau/nouvelle/nouveaux/nouvelles(new)

frais/frache/frais/fraches(fresh)

sec/sche/secs/sches(dry)

long/longue/longs/longues(long)

blanc/blanches/blanc/blanches(white)

vieux/vieille/vieux/vieilles(old)