Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday, 7 February 2017 / No comments
Adjectives of colour in French
Adjectives
of color normally follow the noun and agree with it in gender and
in number.
une
chemise bleue a blue shirt
des livres
gris gray books
des
chaussures vertes green shoes
Two
adjectives of color, blanc and violet, have irregular feminine forms.
un crayon blanc
a white pencil
une
chemise blanche a white
shirt
des cahiers
violets purple notebooks
des
voitures violettes purple cars
Adjectives
of color ending in silent -e are spelled the same in both masculine and
feminine.
des
cahiers (m. pl.) jaunes yellow
notebooks
des fleurs
(f. pl.) jaunes yellow flowers
une chaise
rouge a red chair
un manteau
rouge a red coat
des
pull-overs (m. pl.) roses
pink sweaters
des
chaussettes (f. pl.)
roses pink socks
Two
adjectives of color, marron and orange, are invariable in
gender and number.
des
chaussures marron (f. pl.) brown
shoes
des sacs orange
(m. pl.) orange
handbags
The names
of colors are masculine when used as nouns.
J’aime le
rose et le bleu. I love pink and blue.
Adjectives
That Precede the Noun
Most
descriptive adjectives follow the noun, but these adjectives usually precede
it:
autre other joli(e) pretty
beau (m. s.) beautiful,
handsome
mauvais(e) bad bon(ne) good
même same
grand(e) big,
tall; great nouveau (m. s.) new
gros(se) fat,
big petit(e) small; short
jeune young vieux (m.
s.) old
The adjectives beau (beautiful,
handsome), nouveau (new), and vieux
(old) are irregular.
In addition, each has a second masculine singular
form which is used before a
vowel sound or mute h.
Singular Plural
Masculine beau beaux
Un nouveau
_ livre de nouveaux
_ livres
vieux vieux
Masculine bel homme beaux hommes
Before
Vowel un nouvel
_ objet de nouveaux _ objets
Sound vieil vieux
Feminine belle voiture belles
filles
une nouvelle _ auto de
nouvelles _ autos
vieille ville
vieilles dammes
Pronounce
the examples below, and practice by substituting other nouns for maison and
homme. What changes do you need to make in the articles and adjectives?
C’est une belle maison. It’s
a pretty house.
C’est un vieil homme. He’s an old man.
C’est le nouveau professeur. That’s the new teacher.
When a
plural adjective precedes a plural noun, the indefinite article des usually
shortens to de/d’, as you may have noticed in the previous chart.
de grandes autos (some)
big cars
de nouvelles idées (some)
new ideas
d’autres amis (some) other
friends
However, colloquial French
often retains des before the plural.
Ce sont des bons copains! They’re
good pals!
A few
adjectives that usually precede nouns can also follow them. This change
of position causes a change in meaning. For example:
un ancien professeur (a former
teacher)
une maison ancienne (an ancient
[very old] house)
le dernier
exercice (the final exercise)
l’année dernière (f.)
(last year)
un pauvre garçon (an unfortunate
boy)
un garçon pauvre (a poor
[not rich] boy)
une chère amie (a dear
friend)
un repas cher
(an expensive meal)
Key
Vocabulary
Learn
these common adjectives to answer the question: Comment est... ? (What
is . . . like?) when you want to describe something or someone. Answer with Il est.../Elle est... (He/She/It
is . . .).
Les
adjectifs descriptifs (Descriptive
Adjectives)
agréable
(pleasant) heureux (-euse) (happy)
avare
(stingy) idéaliste (idealistic)
beau
(bel, belle) (beautiful/handsome)
intelligent(e)
(intelligent)
bon
(bonne) (good) intéressant(e) (interesting)
bon
marché (inv.) (inexpensive) jeune (young)
cher
(chère) (expensive; dear) joli(e) (pretty)
chic
(inv.) (stylish, chic) laid(e) (ugly)
content(e)
(happy, pleased) mauvais(e) (bad)
costaud(e)
(sturdy [person]) mince (thin)
dernier
(-ière) (last, final) nouveau/nouvel/nouvelle (new)
désolé(e)
(sorry) pauvre (poor)
difficile
(difficult) petit(e) (small; short)
drôle (funny) premier (-ière) (first)
excellent(e)
(excellent) riche (rich)
facile
(easy) sincère (sincere)
fantastique
(wonderful) sociable (friendly)
fatigué(e)
(tired) sympathique (nice)
formidable
(fabulous) timide (shy, timid)
fort(e)
(strong) triste (sad)
grand(e)
(big, tall; great) typique (typical)
gros(se)
(fat) vieux/vieil/vieille (old)
Les
couleurs (Colors)
blanc(he)
(white) blond(e)
(blond[e])
bleu(e)
(blue) brun(e) (dark-haired)
gris(e) (gray) rose (pink)
jaune (yellow) rouge (red)
marron (inv.) (brown) vert(e) (green)
noir(e) (black) violet(te) (purple)
orange (inv.)
(orange)
Key
Vocabulary
In
French, names of all languages are masculine. They often correspond to
the
masculine singular form of the noun of nationality: l’anglais (m.)
(the
English
language); l’Anglaise (the Englishwoman). Adjectives of
nationality
and
languages are not capitalized, but nouns are.
