How to Make Your Own Sentences with Adjectives in French

In this lesson, we'll learn how to create sentences using adjectives that match the nouns in French. It's important that these adjectives agree with the nouns they describe, which means they must match in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). Let's break this down step by step.

Understanding Gender and Number in French

1. Gender

In French, nouns can be masculine or feminine. Here are some important points:

• Masculine nouns usually have adjectives that end in a consonant or sometimes an “-e.”
• Feminine nouns typically change their adjectives by adding an “-e” to the masculine form, if it’s not already there.

Example:

• Masculine: un chat (a cat) – gentil (kind) → un chat gentil

• Feminine: une chienne (a female dog) – gentille → une chienne gentille

2. Number

Nouns can also be singular (one) or plural (more than one):

• Singular adjectives do not change for masculine and feminine.
• Plural adjectives usually add an “-s” for both genders.

Example:

• Singular: un livre (a book) – intéressant (interesting) → un livre intéressant

• Plural: des livres (books) – intéressants → des livres intéressants

Steps to Create Your Own Sentences

Step 1: Choose a Noun

Start by picking a noun. Keep in mind its gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

Examples:

• Singular Feminine: fleur (flower)
• Singular Masculine: arbre (tree)
• Plural: chats (cats)

Step 2: Pick an Adjective

Choose an adjective that describes your noun. Adjust the adjective to match the noun's gender and number.

Example:

• Adjective: beau (beautiful) becomes belle for feminine nouns.

Step 3: Make Your Sentence

Now combine your noun and adjective into a full sentence. Don't forget the correct article ("un" for masculine nouns and "une" for feminine nouns)!

Example Sentences:

1. Singular Feminine:
   • Une belle fleur est dans le jardin.
   • (A beautiful flower is in the garden.)
2. Singular Masculine:
   • Un beau arbre est près de la maison.
   • (A beautiful tree is near the house.)
3. Plural:
   • Des jolis chats jouent dans le parc.
   • (Pretty cats are playing in the park.)

Practice Exercise

To get better, try making your own sentences. Follow these steps:

1. Choose a singular masculine noun and a fitting adjective.
2. Choose a singular feminine noun and a fitting adjective.
3. Choose a plural noun and its adjective.

Example Prompts:

1. chien (dog, masculine) – fidèle (faithful) → Un chien fidèle.
2. maison (house, feminine) – grande (big) → Une grande maison.
3. voitures (cars, feminine plural) – rapides (fast) → Des voitures rapides.

Conclusion

Learning to use adjectives that fit with nouns in French is important for making clear and lively sentences. Practice often by trying out different combinations of nouns and adjectives to improve your language skills!