French Adjective Agreement: Essential Rules and Usage

What is Adjective Agreement?

In French, adjectives must match the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun they describe - a fundamental rule that differs from English.

Basic Rules of Agreement

Feminine Formation

Add -e to masculine adjective:

• petit → petite (small)
• grand → grande (tall/big)
• intelligent → intelligente (intelligent)

Plural Formation

Add -s to singular:

• petit → petits (small)
• grande → grandes (tall/big)
• intelligent → intelligents/intelligentes (intelligent)

Common Patterns

Regular Adjectives

1. Masculine Singular: petit jardin (small garden)

• Base form of the adjective

2. Feminine Singular: petite maison (small house)

• Added -e because 'maison' is feminine

3. Masculine Plural: petits jardins (small gardens)

• Added -s because multiple gardens

4. Feminine Plural: petites maisons (small houses)

• Added -e for feminine and -s for plural

Special Cases

1. Adjectives ending in -e:

• rouge → rouge (red) Example: "une voiture rouge" (a red car)
• Only adds -s for plural

2. Adjectives ending in -eux:

• heureux → heureuse (happy) Example: "une femme heureuse" (a happy woman)
• Changes -eux to -euse for feminine

3. Adjectives ending in -al:

• national → nationaux (national) Example: "des parcs nationaux" (national parks)
• Changes -al to -aux in masculine plural

Position of Adjectives

Before the Noun (BAGS adjectives):

• Beauty: beau, joli (beautiful, pretty)
• Age: jeune, vieux (young, old)
• Goodness: bon, mauvais (good, bad)
• Size: petit, grand (small, big)

Example: "Une belle maison" (a beautiful house)

• "Belle" comes before "maison" and agrees in feminine form

After the Noun (most adjectives):

Example: "Une table ronde" (a round table)

• "Ronde" follows "table" and agrees in feminine form

Common Examples Explained

1. "Les petites filles sont intelligentes"

• Feminine plural because "filles" is feminine plural
• Both adjectives must agree

2. "Le nouveau professeur est sérieux"

• Masculine singular because "professeur" is masculine
• Both adjectives match the gender

3. "Cette voiture rouge est chère"

• Feminine singular because "voiture" is feminine
• "Rouge" doesn't change (ends in -e)
• "Chère" shows feminine agreement

Key Tips

• Listen for pronunciation changes in feminine forms
• Remember that adjectives describing multiple nouns of mixed gender default to masculine plural
• Some adjectives have irregular feminine forms
• When in doubt, check if the noun is feminine or masculine first

Practice Pattern

When using an adjective:

1. Identify the noun's gender
2. Determine if it's singular or plural
3. Modify the adjective accordingly
4. Place it in the correct position (before or after the noun)

Agreement happens with descriptive adjectives in all positions - whether they appear next to the noun or after être in a sentence.