In Grade 9 you learned that French adjectives agree with their noun — add -e for feminine and -s for plural — and that most go after the noun, except the short, common BAGS adjectives (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size: beau, jeune, bon, petit…), which go before it. Grade 10 adds the precision that makes a description sound natural: adjectives with irregular feminine forms, three adjectives that need a special form before a vowel, adjectives whose meaning changes depending on where you put them, sensory vocabulary for describing food, places and objects, and adverbs — the words that describe how something is done. You will need all of this for reviews, travel writing, stories and descriptions of people.
| Masculine ending | Feminine ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -eux | -euse | heureux → heureuse (happy), sérieux → sérieuse (serious) |
| -if | -ive | sportif → sportive (athletic), actif → active (active) |
| -er | -ère | cher → chère (dear, expensive), premier → première (first) |
| -el, -eil | -elle, -eille | naturel → naturelle (natural), pareil → pareille (the same) |
| -en, -on | -enne, -onne | canadien → canadienne, bon → bonne (good) |
| -et | -ette (but -ète in a few) | muet → muette (silent), but complet → complète, inquiet → inquiète (worried) |
| -c | -che or -que | blanc → blanche (white), public → publique (public) |
| one of a kind | learn each one | long → longue, doux → douce (soft), faux → fausse (false), frais → fraîche (fresh), gentil → gentille (kind) |
Beau, nouveau, vieux: a third masculine form
| Masculine | Masculine before a vowel or mute h | Feminine | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beau (beautiful, handsome) | bel | belle | beaux | belles |
| nouveau (new) | nouvel | nouvelle | nouveaux | nouvelles |
| vieux (old) | vieil | vieille | vieux | vieilles |
Why un bel hôtel and not un beau hôtel? Say beau hôtel aloud: two vowel sounds collide with nothing between them, which French avoids. Bel ends in a consonant that links straight into the noun — and it sounds exactly like belle. The same thing happens with un nouvel ami (a new friend) and un vieil homme (an old man), and it is the same reason you already write cet ami instead of ce ami. The plural needs no special form, because the x of beaux links with a z sound: de beaux arbres. Two limits: the special form is used only directly before a masculine singular noun — after être you write Cet hôtel est beau — and in careful writing, des becomes de when a plural adjective comes before the noun: de beaux arbres, de nouvelles idées.
Adjectives that change meaning with position
| Adjective | Before the noun | After the noun |
|---|---|---|
| ancien | mon ancienne école — my former school | une maison ancienne — an old, historic house |
| cher | ma chère amie — my dear friend | un vélo cher — an expensive bike |
| propre | ma propre chambre — my own room | une chambre propre — a clean room |
| grand | un grand homme — a great man | un homme grand — a tall man |
| même | le même jour — the same day | le jour même — that very day |
| dernier | la dernière semaine des vacances — the final week of the holidays | la semaine dernière — last week (the one just past) |
| pauvre | le pauvre chien — the poor (unfortunate) dog | une famille pauvre — a poor family (without money) |
| Sense | Adjectives (masculine / feminine) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| taste | sucré(e) sweet · salé(e) salty · amer / amère bitter · épicé(e) spicy · savoureux / savoureuse tasty · fade bland | Cette soupe est trop salée. (This soup is too salty.) |
| smell | parfumé(e) fragrant · frais / fraîche fresh · désagréable unpleasant | Ces fleurs sont très parfumées. (These flowers are very fragrant.) |
| touch | doux / douce soft · rugueux / rugueuse rough · lisse smooth · mou / molle soft, limp · dur(e) hard · tiède lukewarm | Ce chandail est très doux. (This sweater is very soft.) |
| sound | bruyant(e) noisy · silencieux / silencieuse silent · calme quiet, calm | La cafétéria est bruyante à midi. (The cafeteria is noisy at noon.) |
| sight | brillant(e) shiny · foncé(e) dark · clair(e) light · vif / vive bright · pâle pale | Elle porte une veste bleu foncé. (She's wearing a dark blue jacket.) |
Adverbs: describing how
| Rule | Adjective → adverb |
|---|---|
| Most adjectives: feminine form + -ment | lent → lente → lentement (slowly) · heureux → heureuse → heureusement (fortunately) · doux → douce → doucement (gently) |
| Masculine ends in a vowel: masculine + -ment | vrai → vraiment (really) · poli → poliment (politely) · absolu → absolument · rapide → rapidement · facile → facilement |
| -ant → -amment | courant → couramment (fluently) · constant → constamment (constantly) · élégant → élégamment |
| -ent → -emment | évident → évidemment (obviously) · récent → récemment (recently) · patient → patiemment · prudent → prudemment (carefully) · fréquent → fréquemment |
| Irregular | bon → bien (well) · mauvais → mal (badly) · gentil → gentiment (kindly) · énorme → énormément · précis → précisément · bref → brièvement |
- C'est une bonne chanteuse. (She's a good singer.)
- C'est une mauvaise idée. (It's a bad idea.)
- Une voiture rapide. (A fast car.)
- Elle est sérieuse. (She is serious.)
- Elle chante bien. (She sings well.)
- Il dort mal. (He sleeps badly.)
- Elle court vite. (She runs fast.)
- Elle travaille sérieusement. (She works seriously.)
Translation: Last night we discovered a beautiful place in Old Québec: an old hotel turned into a restaurant. The dining room is old but very clean, and the service is really fast. My pea soup was tasty and not too salty. My brother had a fresh salad with a lightly sweet dressing. The desserts are a bit expensive, but the sugar pie is absolutely delicious. Our server spoke English and French fluently. It's our family's new favourite place! Notice bel endroit, vieil hôtel and nouvel endroit (special forms before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h), ancienne (after être) and chers (after the noun) with their literal meanings, and adverbs built three ways: vraiment (masculine + -ment), légèrement (feminine + -ment) and couramment (-ant → -amment).