French Adjective Agreement: Linguistic Explanation and Abundant Examples

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2024.06.14 - [French Grammar] - Overview of French Adjectives

Overview of French Adjectives

 

 

In French, adjectives change their form to match the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun they modify. This is called adjective agreement. This feature of French originated from Latin, and the agreement of nouns and adjectives with grammatical gender is a common characteristic of Romance languages.

 

1. Basic Rules:

• Masculine singular adjective + e = Feminine singular adjective:
  • petit (small) -> petite (small)
    • Un petit garçon (a small boy)
    • Une petite fille (a small girl)
    • Le livre est petit. (The book is small.) -> Agreement between masculine singular subject (le livre) and adjective (petit)
  • grand (big) -> grande (big)
    • Un grand arbre (a big tree)
    • Une grande maison (a big house)
    • La tour Eiffel est grande. (The Eiffel Tower is big.) -> Agreement between feminine singular subject (la tour Eiffel) and adjective (grande)

 

• Singular adjective + s = Plural adjective:
  • petit (small) -> petits (small)
    • Des petits chats (small cats)
    • Les garçons sont petits. (The boys are small.) -> Agreement between masculine plural subject (les garçons) and adjective (petits)
  • grande (big) -> grandes (big)
    • Des grandes villes (big cities)
    • Les filles sont grandes. (The girls are big.) -> Agreement between feminine plural subject (les filles) and adjective (grandes)

 

2. Exception Rules:

 

• Adjectives ending in -e: The masculine and feminine singular forms are the same.
  • jeune (young) -> jeune (young)
    • Un jeune homme (a young man)
    • Une jeune femme (a young woman)
    • Ils sont jeunes. (They are young.) -> Agreement between masculine plural subject (ils) and adjective (jeunes)
  • riche (rich) -> riche (rich)
    • Un homme riche (a rich man)
    • Une femme riche (a rich woman)
    • Elles sont riches. (They are rich.) -> Agreement between feminine plural subject (elles) and adjective (riches)
• Adjectives ending in -s, -x: The masculine singular and masculine plural forms are the same.
  • heureux (happy) -> heureux (happy)
    • Un garçon heureux (a happy boy)
    • Des garçons heureux (happy boys)
    • Nous sommes heureux. (We are happy.) -> Agreement between plural subject (nous) and adjective (heureux)
  • bas (low) -> bas (low)
    • Un prix bas (a low price)
    • Des plafonds bas (low ceilings)
    • Les tables sont basses. (The tables are low.) -> Agreement between feminine plural subject (les tables) and adjective (basses)

 

• Adjectives ending in -eau, -al, -el: Follow special rules.
  • beau (beautiful) -> beaux (beautiful) (masculine plural)
    • Un beau jardin (a beautiful garden)
    • De beaux paysages (beautiful landscapes)
    • Les couchers de soleil sont beaux. (The sunsets are beautiful.) -> Agreement between masculine plural subject (les couchers de soleil) and adjective (beaux)
  • original (original) -> originaux (original) (masculine plural)
    • Un film original (an original film)
    • Des idées originales (original ideas)
    • Les artistes sont originaux. (The artists are original.) -> Agreement between masculine plural subject (les artistes) and adjective (originaux)
  • actuel (current) -> actuels (current) (masculine plural)
    • Le problème actuel (the current problem)
    • Les défis actuels (the current challenges)
    • Les événements sont actuels. (The events are current.) -> Agreement between masculine plural subject (les événements) and adjective (actuels)

 

3. Additional Notes:

• Adjectives are usually placed after the noun, but some adjectives like beau, joli, and petit can come before the noun.
• Adjective agreement is an essential part of French grammar and must be mastered for accurate communication.
• The rules for adjective agreement also apply when the adjective is used as a predicate. The adjective must agree in gender and number with the subject. In the example "Le livre est petit.", the adjective petit is used to match the masculine singular subject (le livre).