Leaving Cert. French Grammar : Adjectives – Position And Formation / Agreement

Position

French adjectives are usually placed after the noun which they describe
e.g. Le chien noir

However, there are some exceptions which go before the noun:

Autre Beau Bon Grand Gros Haut Jeune Joli Long Mauvais Méchant

Nouveau Petit Sot Vilain Vieux Ancien Vaste Dernier Prochain Premier

Formation / Agreement

Adjectives agree in gender and in number with the nouns they describe.

The general rule of agreement is:

M. S	F. S	F. PL	M. PL
No change	Add – e	Add – es	Add -s

e.g.      The little black dogs – Les petits chiens noirs
             The black dress – La robe noire
             The black dresses – Les robes noires
             The black pen – Le stylo noir

Exceptions to the above rule:

M.S	F. S	F. PL	M. PL
-er	-ère	-ères	-ers
e.g. premier	première	premières	premiers
-x	-se	-ses	-x
e.g. heureux	heureuse	heureuses	heureux
-f	-ve	-ves	-fs
e.g. sportif	sportive	sportives	sportifs
With adjectives ending in -el / -en / -et / -as / -os / -on / -eil,  double the last letter and add ‘-e’
e.g. naturel moyen gros pareil	naturelle moyenne grosse pareille	naturelles moyennes grosses pareilles	naturels moyens gros pareils
-c	-che	-ches	-cs
e.g. blanc	blanche	blanches	blancs
-al	-ale	-ales	-aux
e.g. amical	amicale	amicales	amicaux

Other exceptions to General Rule:

M.S.	F.S.	M. PL	F. PL
Beau	Belle	Beaux	Belles
Nouveau	Nouvelle	Nouveaux	Nouvelles
Vieux	Vieille	Vieux	Vieilles
Roux	Rousse	Roux	Rousses
Fou	Folle	Fous	Folles
Mou	Molle	Mous	Molles
Long	Longue	Longs	Longues

Note 1:

There are 5 adjectives which have a special spelling if the noun they are describing is Masculine Singular and beginning with a vowel. These are the following:

Ordinary M.S	M.S.  + Vowel	All M. PL
Beau	Bel	Beaux
Nouveau	Nouvel	Nouveaux
Vieux	Vieil	Vieux
Fou	Fol	Fous
Mou	Mol	Mous

Dropping the last 2 letters from the F.S spelling e.g. un bel arbre, un nouvel élève, forms the new spellings
 

Note 2:

When the word ‘des’ directly precedes any of the list of adjectives which go before the noun, then ‘des’ becomes abbreviated to ‘de’ (or d’… if the next word begins with a vowel) e.g. de jeunes homes, de beaux arbres.