Adjective agreement

What you will practice

• Make an adjective agree in gender and number.
• Place most adjectives after the noun, and petit, grand, beau, and bon before it.
• Choose beau, bel, or belle for the noun that follows.

Explanation

Agreement

A French adjective agrees with its noun in gender and number. The dictionary form is masculine singular: un livre intéressant. Feminine singular usually adds e: une histoire intéressante. Masculine plural adds s: des livres intéressants. Feminine plural adds es: des histoires intéressantes. If the masculine form already ends in e, do not add another one: un sac rouge, une voiture rouge. The plural of that adjective is rouges. Because these adjectives follow the noun, the plural article stays des.

Position

Most adjectives follow the noun, as in un livre intéressant and une voiture rouge. A short group usually stands in front. In this lesson that group is petit, grand, beau, and bon. They still agree. un petit chien is masculine. une petite maison, une grande maison, and une bonne idée show the feminine e. bon doubles the n to make bonne. The plurals include petits, grandes, bons, and bonnes. Moving an adjective does not cancel the agreement.

beau, bel, and belle

The adjective beau has an extra masculine form before a vowel sound. Use beau before a masculine consonant: un beau livre. Use bel before a masculine vowel, including a mute h: un bel arbre, un bel homme. Feminine is belle even before a vowel: une belle idée. The masculine plural is beaux, including before a vowel, so there is no plural bel: de beaux arbres. When a plural adjective stands before the noun, des usually becomes de: de beaux livres.

Examples

1. un livre intéressantan interesting book
2. un petit chiena small dog
3. un bel hommea handsome man
4. une bonne idéea good idea
5. de beaux livresbeautiful books

Common mistakes

• un beau arbre misses the vowel rule. A masculine noun that starts with a vowel takes bel: un bel arbre.
• After the noun, a plural keeps des: des livres intéressants. de is for an adjective placed in front.