by Louise
Updated on January 8, 2024
French adjectives you need to know
Now that you’ve learned simple French phrases for beginners, you are starting to build more complex sentences. That’s when French adjectives come in! Adjectives will spice up your sentence and add a little detail that will make it great. Just like adding orange blossom water to your crêpes batter. In this article, we’ll tell you all about how to use adjectives, and their different forms. Read on!
English adjectives are pretty straightforward whereas French adjectives reflect the gender and the number of the noun(s) they describe. That means one adjective can have four different forms depending on the noun they modify. They can be either: masculine, feminine, singular or plural.
In general, the French adjectives come after the noun they describe, unlike the English adjectives. For example : A red car – Une voiture rouge
When you’re looking up an adjective in the dictionary, you’re likely to find the masculine singular form. But don’t worry, we will give you a list of French feminine adjectives as well!
That means you have to know the gender of the noun you are qualifying.
As a general rule, if you want to change a masculine adjective into a feminine one, you only have to add an -e at the end. If you want to change it from singular to plural, add an -s.
| Il est petit (he is short) | Elle est petite (she is short) |
| Ils sont petits (they are short) | Elles sont petites (they are short) |
Easy, right? When the masculine adjective ends with an -e, it’s even easier because you don’t need to change anything!
| Marc est jeune | Sarah est jeune |
| Le manteau est jaune | L’écharpe est jaune |
| L’exercice est facile | Les exercices sont faciles |
Did you notice how close jeune (young) and jaune (yellow) are? Learn how to say the colors in French.
But of course, since it’s French we are talking about, there are other endings and variations!
Some adjectives double their last consonant when they go from masculine to feminine.
That’s the case for adjectives ending in -n, -l, -t and -s.
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
| italien | italienne | italian |
| bon | bonne | good |
| paysan | paysanne | rural |
| cruel | cruelle | cruel |
| gentil | gentille | kind |
| pareil | pareille | identical |
| muet | muette | mute |
| net | nette | neat |
| bas | basse | low |
| las | lasse | tiring |
Masculine adjectives that end in -f will have a -ve ending in their feminine form.
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
| neuf | neuve | new |
| actif | active | active |
| naïf | naïve | naive |
Masculine adjectives that end in -er will have a -ère ending in their feminine form.
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
| premier | première | first |
| cher | chère | dear or expensive |
Masculine adjectives that end in -x will have a -se ending in their feminine form.
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
| heureux | heureuse | happy |
| amoureux | amoureuse | in love |
Now that you’ve seen the most common endings for French adjectives, you can practice using them in sentences.
How about French describing words to talk about a person? Below are ten of the most common adjectives to describe people in French, in their masculine and feminine forms and their translation, s’il vous plait!
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
| petit | petite | short |
| grand | grande | tall |
| gros | grosse | big |
| mince | mince | thin |
| maigre | maigre | skinny |
| blond | blonde | blond |
| brun | brune | brunette |
| roux | rousse | ginger |
| joli | jolie | pretty |
| laid | laide | ugly |
Jacqueline Bisset said it herself: “Character contributes to beauty”! How would you describe your best friend and why they are, indeed, the best? I’m sure it’s not because they have shiny hair (though, it is appreciable), but because they have this particular trait that makes them themselves.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning of the word |
| gentil | gentille | kind |
| poli | polie | polite |
| généreux | généreuse | generous |
| amusant | amusante | funny |
| heureux | heureuse | happy |
| curieux | curieuse | curious |
| intelligent | intelligente | smart |
| intéressant | intéressante | interesting |
| loyal | loyale | loyal |
| créatif | créative | creative |
And here is a list of less positive adjectives (masculine and feminine) because, let’s face it, nobody is perfect!
| Masculine | Feminine | English |
| ennuyeux | ennuyeuse | boring |
| paresseux | paresseuse | lazy |
| jaloux | jalouse | jealous |
| égoïste | égoïste | self-centered |
| superficiel | superficielle | superficial |
| arrogant | arrogante | arrogant |
| têtu | têtue | stubborn |
I know we have already talked about irregular endings but how about irregular adjectives?
Some adjectives in French have an irregular form in the feminine. Unfortunately, they are quite common. Otherwise, where would be the fun in learning French?
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning of the word |
| beau | belle | beautiful |
| nouveau | nouvelle | new |
| blanc | blanche | white |
| doux | douce | soft |
| frais | fraiche | chilly |
| fou | folle | crazy |
There you go! Here are the main rules for French adjectives. Remember that in a lot of cases, you can just add an -e at the end of a masculine adjective to make it feminine, and an -s to make it plural. For the special cases, why not print out a table of examples and display it where you can see it? (Did someone say the bathroom? 🤫)Though it can look like there is a lot, you will soon see the pattern in the words and will be able to gracefully go from premier to première and from amoureux to amoureuse!
Révisez bien !
