French For Football/Grammar/Adjectives

Regular formation

Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality.

Spelling

Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:

• Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
  • un gardien impressionnant --> une gardienne impressionnante (an impressive male / female keeper)
  • un changement surprenant --> une victoire surprenante (a surprising substitution / victory)
  • un match mouvementé --> une saison mouvementée (an eventful match / season)
• Plural: add an -s to the singular form
  • un moment fort --> des moments forts (a highlight / some highlights)
  • une équipe forte --> des équipes fortes (a strong team / some strong teams)

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: impressionnan, surprenan, for
• Feminine Pronunciation: impressionnant, surprenant, fort

With plural adjectives, the -s ending is not pronounced, so the adjective will sound exactly the same as the singular form.

Exceptions and Irregularities

• Adjectives that end in e in the masculine form do not change with gender.
• When an adjective, such as gros, ends in -s, it does not change in the masculine plural form.
• Sometimes the final consonant is doubled in the feminine form.

Irregular formation

Irregular plural formation

				Examples
	M Sing.	→	M. Pl.	Masc. Singular	→	Masc. Plural	Notes
No change	-s		-s	un joueur français un gros match		des joueurs français des gros matchs
	-x		-x	un tir chanceux un joueur talentueux		des tirs chanceux des joueurs talentueux
Add x	-eau		-eaux	un nouveau maillot		des nouveaux maillots
	-al		-aux	un match amical		des matchs amicaux	Exceptions: fatal (fatals), final (finals) & naval (navals)

Irregular feminine formation

				Examples
	Masc.	→	Fem.	Masculine	→	Feminine	Notes
No change	-e		-e	adverse, contestable, difficile, imbattable, opportuniste, spectaculaire, tactique			When the masc. form ends in an -e, there is no change. The final consonant is pronounced on the masc. form.
Final Consonant Doubled	-el		-elle	individuel		individuelle	When an adjective has one of these endings, the ending of the feminine form is doubled. There is no change of pronunciation when changing from -el to -elle. -il is pronounced "ee" (as in keen), while -ille is similar, with a final yod (pronounced like "ee" in keen with a "y" on the end: [ij] ). -on is pronounced ohhn and -onne is pronounced uhhne. -en is pronounced euhn and -enne is pronounced ehne. -os is pronounced oh and -osse is pronounced ohse. -as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced ahse.
	-il		-ille	gentil		gentille
	-on		-onne	bon		bonne
	-en		-enne	ancien aérien		ancienne aérienne
	-os		-osse	gros		grosse
	-as		-asse	bas		basse
-c change	-c		-che	blanc franc		blanche franche
-eur change	-eur		-euse	accrocheur prometteur		accrocheuse prometteuse
-eux change	-eux		-euse	astucieux chanceux		astucieuse chanceuse	-eux is pronounced euhh and -euse is pronounced euhsse.
-g change	-g		-gue	long		longue
-if change	-if		-ive	décisif défensif		décisive défensive
er change	-er		-ère	premier dernier		première dernière	-er is pronounced ay and -ère is pronounced air, though exceptions such as "fier" exist in which both forms are pronounced with an ending similar to the word "air".
-et change	-et		-ète	inquiet complet		inquiète complète	-et is pronounced ay and -ète is pronounced ette.
-ou change	-ou / -ol		-olle	fou, fol mou, mol		folle molle	-ol forms occur before a vowel or mute h.

Special rules

Word Order

Most adjectives come after the noun they modify in French.

• un joueur expérimenté - an experienced player
• des joueurs expérimentés - (some) experienced players

However, some common French adjectives, including beau, nouveau, and vieux come before the noun.

• un joli but - a lovely goal

Des is replaced with de when an adjective comes before the noun.

• de jolis buts - (some) lovely goals

Note that in informal speech, des is very often used in place of de.

Adjectives that precede nouns

List

Adjectives that are used frequently before nouns. These are:

• affreux (affreuse)
• autre
• beau (belle)
• bon(ne) +
• court(e) +
• dernier (dernière) +
• gentil (gentille)
• grand(e) +
• gros(se) +
• haut(e)
• jeune +
• joli(e)
• large
• long(ue)
• mauvais(e)
• méchant(e) +
• meilleur(e)
• nouveau (nouvelle)
• pauvre
• petit(e)
• vieux (vieille)
• vilain(e)

+ sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning

When these adjectives appear before an indefinite plural noun, they will change the article associated with it:

• des garçons courageux / de beaux garçons

Changes in meaning

When grand goes before a noun, it means great. However, when it goes after the noun, it means tall. Likewise, when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate. When it comes after the noun, it means financially poor. This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even when used before the nouns.

Beau, nouveau, and vieux

These three adjectives behave differently when placed before a singular masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h:

	Masc. Sing. Cons.	Masc. Sing Vowel	Masc. Plural	Fem. Sing. (all)	Fem. Plural
Beau	un beau mouvement	un bel arret	de beaux arrets	une belle occasion	de belles occasions
Nouveau	un nouveau joueur	un nouvel investisseur	de nouveaux investisseurs	une nouvelle recrue	de nouvelles recrues
Vieux	un vieux briscard	un vieil ami	de vieux amis	une vieille idée	de vieilles idées

(Translations: mouvement=interplay, arret=save, occasion=chance, joueur=player, investisseur=investor, recrue=recruit, briscard=veteran, ami=friend, idée=idea)

Possessive adjectives

In English, we say "her car" when the owner of the car is a woman and "his car" when the owner is a man. In French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of the possessive adjective but the object owned.

First person singular - mon, ma, mes
Second person singular (informal) - ton, ta, tes
Third person singular - son, sa, ses

First person plural - notre, notre, nos
Second person plural (and polite form) - votre, votre, vos
Third person plural - leur, leur, leurs

Note: Exception. When a feminine noun starts with a vowel or silent 'h', you should use "Mon" instead of "Ma". Example:

Mon ami = ok 
Ma amie = error! 
Mon amie = ok.

Usage

Possessive adjective are used to express possession of an object.

• C'est mon billet. - It's my ticket.

In English the possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother). But in French, possessive adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify.

Grammar (upload audio) Possesive Adjective Usage · Utilisation des adjectifs possessifs
Masculine Noun le billet		Feminine Noun la chaussure
le billet de Marc Marc's ticket	son billet his ticket	la chaussure de Marc Marc's boot (or shoe)	sa chaussure his boot (or shoe)
les billets de Marc Marc's tickets	ses billets his tickets	les chaussures de Marc Marc's boots	ses chaussures his boots
le billet de Marie Marie's ticket	son billet her ticket	la chaussure de Marie Marie's boot	sa chaussure her boot
les billets de Marie Marie's tickets	ses billets her tickets	les chaussures de Marie Marie's boots	ses chaussures her boots

Whether the third person singular possessive adjectives son, sa and ses should be translated as his or her is indicated by context.

• Elle a son billet. - She has her ticket.

Liaison and adjective changes

Liaison occurs when mon, ton, and son are followed by a vowel.

• Il est mon_nami. - He is my friend.
• Il est ton_nami. - He is your friend.
• Il est son_nami. - He is his/her friend.

Liaison also occurs with all plural forms, since they all end in s.

• Ils sont mes_zamis. - They are my friends.
• Ils sont nos_zamis. - They are our friends.

Mon, ton, and son are used before a feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h. Elision (to m', t', or s') does not occur.

• Elle est mon_namie. - She is my friend.

Demonstrative adjectives

There are four adjectives (meaning this or these) that demonstrate a specific object:

• Ce match (masculin)
• Cet après-midi (masculin before vowel or silent h)
• Cette semaine (feminine)
• Ces joueurs (plural)

(après-midi=afternoon, semaine=week)

Comparative

Grammar (upload audio) The Comparative · Le Comparatif
Adjectives
Sub. + Verb	Comparative	Adjective	Comparative	Object
Je suis	plus	expérimenté	que	toi.
I am	more	experienced	than	you
Je suis	moins	expérimenté	que	toi.
I am	less	experienced	than	you
Je suis	aussi	expérimenté	que	toi.
I am	as	experienced	as	you.

Superlative

le/la/les + plus/moins + un adjectif

le/la/les + meilleur(e)(s)/mieux/pire

Acknowledgements

This page is based on original text from French/Grammar/Adjectives dated 22 January 2010.