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GCSE French> Vocabulary> Using adjectives
Agreement of adjectives
In French, adjectives agree with the noun, which means that they are masculine, feminine, singular or plural to match the noun.

Regular adjectives
A lot of adjectives follow this pattern:

singular

plural

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine

Feminine

Grand

Grande

Grands

Grandes

Intelligent

Intelligente

Intelligents

Intelligentes

Fort

Forte

Forts

Fortes

Allemand

Allemande

Allemands

Allemandes

Adjectives that end in –u, -i, -é follow this pattern, but although the spelling changes, they don’t sound any different when you say them:

Bleu

Bleue

Bleus

Bleues

Joli

Jolie

Jolis

Jolies

Fatigué

Fatiguée

Fatigués

Fatiguées

Âgé

Âgée

Âgés

Âgées

Adjectives that already end in –e (with no accent) have no different feminine form:

Jaune

Jaune

Jaunes

Jaunes

Mince

Mince

Minces

Minces

Jeune

Jeune

Jeunes

Jeunes

Adjectives that already end in –s have no different masculine plural form:

Français

Française

Français

Françaises

Adjectives that end in –er follow this pattern:

Cher

Chère

Chers

Chères

Premier

Première

Premiers

Premières

Adjectives that end in –eux follow this pattern:

Délicieux

Délicieuse

Délicieux

Délicieuses

Merveilleux

Merveilleuse

Merveilleux

Merveilleuses

Some adjectives double the last letter before adding an –e for the feminine form:

Gentil

Gentille

Gentils

Gentilles

Mignon

Mignonne

Mignons

Mignonnes

Gros

Grosse

Gros

Grosses

Bon

Bonne

Bons

Bonnes

Irregular adjectives

Many common adjectives are irregular and you need to learn each one separately:

Blanc

Blanche

Blancs

Blanches

Long

Longue

Longs

Longues

Vieux (Vieil)

Vieille

Vieux

Vieilles

Nouveau (Nouvel)

Nouvelle

Nouveaux

Nouvelles

Beau (Bel)

Belle

Beaux

Belles

(Vieil, nouvel and bel are used before masculine nouns that begin with a vowel.)

A few adjectives do not change at all:

Marron

Marron

Marron

Marron

Position of adjectives

Adjectives normally follow the noun:
J’ai vu un film très intéressant à la télé.
Regarde cette jupe noire.

Some common adjectives go before the noun. The most common ones are grand, petit, bon, mauvais, beau, jeune, vieux, joli, gros, premier.
C’est un petit garçon.Il prend le premier train pour Paris.

N.B. All colours and adjectives describing nationality follow the noun.

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