Adjectives in French

Types of adjectives

In traditional French grammar, adjectives were divided into many categories: descriptive adjectives (beau, grand), possessive adjectives (mon, ton), demonstrative adjectives (ce, cette), exclamatory adjectives (quel, quelle), indefinite adjectives (certain, quelque), etc.

In modern French grammar, only descriptive adjectives are now considered true adjectives – possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives and similar types are now classified as determiners because they don’t describe the noun – they identify it, show possession or indicate quantity.

Examples:

L’imagination est infinie.Imagination is infinite.

infinie is now just considered an adjective, formerly called a qualifying adjective

Ta créativité est surprenante.Your creativity is surprising.

ta is a possessive determiner, formerly called a possessive adjective

Visit our dedicated page to learn more about determiners, where you can also practise with exercises.

Qualifying, classifying & participle adjectives

In modern French grammar, adjectives are split into two main groups: qualifying and classifying. Some adjectives can also be participial.

• Qualifying adjectives describe a quality or characteristic of the noun. You can put an adverb like très in front of them, or use them in a comparative or superlative form.
  

  Examples:

  un avion rapidea fast plane

  une fille intelligentean intelligent girl

  un film intéressantan interesting film

  you can add an adverb such as très (“very”) rapide, très intelligente, très intéressant

• Classifying adjectives place the noun into a category or group. You can’t put an adverb like très in front of them, and they can’t be used in a comparative or superlative form.
  

  Examples:

  une élection présidentiellea presidential election

  un transport scolaireschool transportation

  l’énergie nucléairenuclear energy

  you can’t say très présidentielle, très scolaire, très nucléaire

Sometimes an adjective can be qualifying or classifying, depending on its meaning.

Examples:

une marque françaisea French brand

“une marque très française” is possible – here the adjective is qualifying, meaning the brand strongly reflects French culture

une équipe françaisea French team

“une équipe très française” isn’t possible – here the adjective is classifying, simply indicating nationality

Attributive and predicative adjectives

In French, an adjective can be used in two ways – as an attributive adjective (épithète) or as a predicative adjective (attribut).

Here’s the difference:

• an attributive adjective (épithète) is directly attached to the noun and is placed after it – or sometimes before it – in the sentence.
  

  Examples:

  Il faut aérer les pièces humides.We need to air out the damp rooms.

  Regarde ce petit chat !Look at this little cat!

• an predicative adjective (attribut) is separated from the noun by a linking verb such as (êtreto be, paraîtreto look like, semblerto seem, devenirto become, etc.).
  

  Examples:

  Les élèves sont silencieux aujourd’hui.The students are quiet today.

  Ce fauteuil semble confortable.This armchair seems comfortable.

How adjective endings change

In French, adjectives change their endings to match the noun they describe. They need to agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

• In the singular, we often add -e to the masculine form to make the feminine form. There are exceptions to this rule – for example, when the adjective already ends in -e, or when it has a special ending that follows its own rule, such as adjectives ending in -eux or -el.
  

  Examples:

  intelligent (m. sing.) → intelligente (f. sing.)intelligent

  rouge (m. sing.) → rouge (f. sing.)red

  ennuyeux (m. sing.) → ennuyeuse (f. sing.)boring

• In the plural, we often add -s to the masculine form and -es to the feminine form. Again, there are exceptions.
  

  Example:

  intelligents (m. plur.) → intelligentes (f. plur.)intelligent

  rouges (m. plur.) → rouges (f. plur.)red

  ennuyeux (m. plur.) → ennuyeuses (f. plur.)boring

You’ll find more information, many examples and practice exercises on our dedicated page on adjective endings.

Comparison of adjectives

In French, we can use adjectives at three different levels of comparison: the positive, the comparative and the superlative.

• The positive is simply the base form of the adjective – just describing something without any comparison.
• The comparative is used to compare two things.
• The superlative is used to say something is the most or least of all.

Examples:

Marie est créative. (positive)Marie is creative.

Marie est plus créative que Sophie. (comparative)Marie is more creative than Sophie.

Delphine est la plus créative. (superlative)Delphine is the most creative.

here, the adjective créative appears at the three different levels of comparison

Learn more about the comparative and superlative, as well as their exceptions, on our dedicated page. Then put your knowledge to the test with our practice exercises.

Position of adjectives

The position of adjectives in a sentence follows a few general rules, although there are many exceptions:

• most adjectives are placed after the noun

  Example:

  un jeu amusanta fun game

• some adjectives, such as short adjectives (good, beautiful, pretty, etc.), are placed before the noun

  Example:

  un bon repasa good meal

• some adjectives can be placed either before or after the noun, depending on their meaning

  Examples:

  la semaine dernièrelast week

  the week before this one

  la dernière semainethe last week

  the final week

You’ll find many additional rules, examples and exceptions on our dedicated page on adjective placement, along with lots of practice exercises at the bottom of the page.