Adjectives
Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality.
Regular formation
Spelling
Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:
Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
un garçon intéressant --> une fille intéressante
un ami amusant --> une amie amusante
un camion lent --> une voiture lente
Plural: add an -s to the singular form
un garçon intéressant --> des garçons intéressants
une fille intéressante --> des filles intéressantes
Pronunciation
Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those above, are affected by this rule.
Masculine Pronuciation: intéressan, amusan, len
Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent
Irregular formation
Irregular plural formation
Examples
M Sing. --> M. Pl. Masc. Singular -->
Masc. Plural
Notes
un plafond bas
des plafonds bas
-s
-s
un gros porc
des gros porcs
No change
un homme
des hommes
-x
-x
généreux
généreux
un garçon furieux
des garçons furieux
-eau
-eaux un nouveau jeu
des nouveaux jeux
Add x
Exceptions: fatal (fatals),
-al
-aux un vent hivernal
des vents hivernaux
final (finals) & naval
(navals)
Irregular feminine formation
Examples
Masc. --> Fem. Masculine --> Feminine
Notes
égoïste, populaire, sociable,
* When the masc. form ends in an -e, there is
timide,
no change.
No change -e
-e
énergique, dynamique,
* The final consonant is pronounced on the
sympathique
masc. form.
-el
-elle cruel
cruelle
When an adjective has one of these endings,
the ending of
the feminine form is doubled. There is no
-il
-ille gentil
gentille
change of
pronunciation when changing from -el to -elle.
bon
bonne
-il is pronounced "ee" (as in keen), while -ille
-on
-onne
Final
breton
bretonne
is similar, with a final yod (pronounced like
Consonant
"ee" in keen with a "y" on the end: [ij] ).
-on is pronounced ohhn and -onne is
Doubled
ancien
ancienne
pronounced uhhne.
-en
-enne parisien
parisienne
-en is pronounced euhn and -enne is
pronounced ehne.
-os is pronounced oh and -osse is pronounced
-os
-osse gros
grosse
ohse.
-as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced
-as
