Adjectives are one of the main parts of speech, and they can be used in numerous combinations with nouns. However, French adjectives are a little bit more complicated than the English variety - and that is because of the agreement.
French
English
Une longue rue.
A long street.
What Is an Adjective Agreement?
Rule 1: Unlike English, French adjectives have different endings - and those should agree with the number and gender of the noun the adjective is describing.
French
English
Une bonne fille.
A good girl.
Un bon garçon.
A good boy.
The Basics
Rule 2: In singular adjectives, the masculine form is the base. The feminine form is usually created by adding an -e suffix to the base.
French
English
Un grand arbre.
A big tree.
Une grande maison.
A big house.
Note that grammatical gender in French is not the same as the gender of the object it describes.
Rule 3: If an adjective in a masculine form ends with an -e, the feminine form will be the same.
French
English
Une feuille jaune.
A yellow leaf.
Un livre jaune.
A yellow book.
Exceptions
Rule 4: Many adjectives in French have a particular ending in a feminine form.
| Masculine ending | Feminine ending |
|---|---|
| -el | -elle |
| -er | -ère |
| -g | -gue |
| -en | -enne |
| -on | -onne |
| -eur | -euse |
| -f | -ve |
| Masculine ending | Feminine ending |
|---|---|
| -el | -elle |
| -er | -ère |
| -g | -gue |
| -en | -enne |
| -on | -onne |
| -eur | -euse |
| -f | -ve |
Exception: there are many adjectives in French that end with -x, -c, -et, or -s in their masculine form. Those will have different ending in feminine forms, and it's best to look them up in the dictionary and write down.
French
English
faux, fausse
false
Quiz
1/3
Un _ bol de lait
0
correct answers.