French Grammar: Adjective Agreement with Nouns

In French, adjectives need to match the nouns they describe. This means they have to agree in two ways: gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). This is important for making correct sentences in French.

Understanding Gender

In French, every noun is either masculine or feminine.

Examples:

• Masculine: "le livre" (the book)
• Feminine: "la table" (the table)

Adjectives change based on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

Adjective Forms

1. Masculine Singular: This is the basic form of the adjective.
   • Example: grand (tall)
2. Feminine Singular: Usually, you add "-e" to the masculine form.
   • Example: grande (tall)
3. Masculine Plural: You often add "-s" to the masculine singular form.
   • Example: grands (tall)
4. Feminine Plural: Add "-es" to the feminine singular form.
   • Example: grandes (tall)

Examples of Adjective Agreement

Here are some nouns and adjectives that show how they agree based on gender:

• Masculine Singular:

  • Noun: le garçon (the boy)
  • Adjective: intelligent
  • Combined: Le garçon est intelligent. (The boy is intelligent.)

• Feminine Singular:

  • Noun: la fille (the girl)
  • Adjective: intelligente
  • Combined: La fille est intelligente. (The girl is intelligent.)

• Masculine Plural:

  • Noun: les garçons (the boys)
  • Adjective: intelligents
  • Combined: Les garçons sont intelligents. (The boys are intelligent.)

• Feminine Plural:

  • Noun: les filles (the girls)
  • Adjective: intelligentes
  • Combined: Les filles sont intelligentes. (The girls are intelligent.)

Vocabulary List

| French | English | |----------------|-----------------| | Masculin | Masculine | | Féminin | Feminine | | Singulier | Singular | | Pluriel | Plural | | Grand(e)(s) | Tall | | Intelligent(e)(s)| Intelligent |

Practice

Now you can practice! Match the adjectives to the right nouns by gender:

1. beau (handsome)

   • a) ____ soeur (sister)
   • b) ____ frère (brother)

2. petit (small)

   • a) ____ maison (house)
   • b) ____ chat (cat)

Answers

1. a) belle, b) beau
2. a) petite, b) petit

By learning adjective agreement, you will get better at making sentences in French!