Die Grundregel
Unlike in English, a French adjective agrees with its noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). This also holds after être: The girls are small needs a plural adjective in French. The dictionary lists the masculine singular form.
The four forms
| Meaning | m. Sg. | f. Sg. | m. Pl. | f. Pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| small | petit | petite | petits | petites |
| big | grand | grande | grands | grandes |
| happy | content | contente | contents | contentes |
| young | jeune | jeune | jeunes | jeunes |
| French | français | française | français | françaises |
Two exceptions: if the masculine already ends in -e (jeune, rouge, facile), the feminine is identical; no second -e is added. If it ends in -s or -x (français, heureux), the masculine plural does not change.
petit in a sentence
Le garçon est petit.
The boy is small.
La fille est petite.
The girl is small.
Les garçons sont petits.
The boys are small.
Les filles sont petites.
The girls are small.
Only audible in the feminine
The final consonant of the masculine is often silent. The feminine -e makes it audible: petit [pəti] → petite [pətit]. The plural -s stays silent, so you hear the plural in the article.
Il est petit. Elle est petite.
[pəti / pətit]
He is small. She is small.
Il est grand. Elle est grande.
[ɡʁɑ̃ / ɡʁɑ̃d]
He is big. She is big.
Il est français. Elle est française.
[fʁɑ̃sɛ / fʁɑ̃sɛz]
He is French. She is French.
More feminine endings
Some common adjectives change their ending in the feminine following a fixed pattern.
| Pattern | Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -eux → -euse | heureux | heureuse | happy |
| -if → -ive | sportif | sportive | sporty |
| -er → -ère | premier | première | first |
| double the final consonant + e | bon | bonne | good |
| double the final consonant + e | gentil | gentille | nice |
| double the final consonant + e | gros | grosse | fat / thick |
| double the final consonant + e | italien | italienne | Italian |
Elles sont heureuses.
They are happy.
Ma sœur est très sportive.
My sister is very sporty.
C’est une bonne idée.
That is a good idea.
Irregular adjectives
A few very common adjectives have their own forms. Learn them as a set.
| Masculine | Feminine | m. pl. | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| beau | belle | beaux | beautiful |
| nouveau | nouvelle | nouveaux | new |
| vieux | vieille | vieux | old |
| blanc | blanche | blancs | white |
Before a masculine noun that starts with a vowel or silent h, beau, nouveau and vieux become bel, nouvel and vieil: un bel homme, un nouvel ami.
C’est une belle maison.
That is a beautiful house.
Il a un vieil ami.
He has an old friend.
Elle porte une chemise blanche.
She is wearing a white shirt.
