Adjectives and Adverbs (Chapter 2)

Question 1

What are general rules regarding adjectives?

Answer 1

Every adjective must agree in number and gender with the noun it describes.
Most adjectives add e to the masculine form to form the feminine. The final consonant is then pronounce in the feminine form and other pronunciation changes may also occur

Question 2

How is the feminine formed for an adjective that ends in a mute e?

Answer 2

There is no change.
Facile
Difficile
Fantastique
Célèbre (famous)
Désagréable (unpleasant)
Mince (thin)
Gauche (left)
Honnête (honest)
Jeune
Pauvre
Populaire
Rapide
Riche
Sale

and many others

Question 3

Which adjectives double the final consonant before adding e?

Answer 3

Adjectives ending in:
-el
-eil
-il
-en
-on
-et and some ending in s

pareil/pareille (similar)
bon/bonne
muet/muette (silent)
gras/grasse (greasy)
las/lasse (tired)
épais/épaisse (thick)

Also:
nul/nulle (no)
paysan/paysanne (peasant)
sot/sotte (stupid)
tel/telle (such a)

Question 4

How do some adjectives that end in et form the feminine version?

Answer 4

Some change the et to ète:
complet/complète (complete)
concret/concrète (concrete)
inquiet/inquiète (worried)
discret/discrète (discreet)
secret/secrète (secret)

Question 5

How is the feminine formed for an adjective that ends in er?

Answer 5

They change the er to ère:
cher/chère (expensive)
entier/entière (entire)
étranger/étrangère (foreign)
fier/fière (proud)
dernier/dernière (last)
leger/legère (light)
premier/première (first)

Question 6

How is the feminine formed for adjectives that end in x?

What are 3 exceptions?

Answer 6

Most change to se:
amoureux/amoureuse (in love)
courageux/courageuse (courageous)
curieux/curieuse
ennuyeux/ennuyeuse (boring)
furieux/furieuse
jaloux/jalouse (jealous)
merveilleux/merveilleuse
peureux/peureuse (fearful)
sérieux/sérieuse (serious)

3 exceptions are:
Doux -> douce (sweet)
Faux -> fausse (false)
Roux -> rousse (reddish brown)

Question 7

How is the feminine formed for adjectives that end in eur?

Answer 7

If the adjective is derived from a verb, eur becomes euse:

flatteur/flatteuse (flattering)
menteur/menteuse (lying)
moqueur/moqueuse (mocking)

Otherwise the eur becomes ice:
créateur -> créatrice (creative)

There are many exceptions which just add an e:
meilleur (best)
inférieur
extérieur
majeur (major)
mineur (minor)
postérieur
supérieur

Question 8

How is the feminine formed for adjectives that end in f?

Answer 8

The f becomes ve

attentif/attentive
actif/active
bref/brève (brief)
neuf/neuve (new)
sportif/sportive
vif/vive (alive, lively)
destructif/destructive

Question 9

How is the feminine formed for adjectives that end in c?

What are 2 exceptions?

Answer 9

The c becomes che:
blanc/blanche
franc/franche (frank)
sec/sèche (dry)

grec -> grecque (Greek)
public -> publique (public)

Question 10

Name 5 adjectives that are completely irregular in the feminine?

Answer 10

aige/aiguë (sharp)
long/longue (long)
favori /favorite (favourite)
malin/maligne (sly)
frais/fraiche (fresh)

Question 11

Name 5 adjectives that have 2 forms in the masculine?

Answer 11

Some adjectives have 2 different masculine forms depending on whether the word following it begins with a consonant or a vowel/silent h. These are:
-beau/bel (m) and belle (f)
-nouveau/nouvel (m) and nouvelle (f)
-vieux/vieil (m) and vieille (f)
-fou/fol (m) and folle (f) (crazy)
-mou/mol (m) and molle (f) (soft)

C’est un beau garçon
C’est un bel homme
(but note - Cet homme est beau)
C’est une belle femme

Question 12

How do most adjectives form the plural?

What re the 3 groups of exceptions?

Answer 12

Most add an s to the masc/fem form of the adjective
Petit/petits
Petite/petites

Exceptions are adjectives ending in:
-s or x
-eu or eau
-al

Question 13

How do adjectives ending in s or x form the plural?

Answer 13

In the masculine plural they do not change:
frais -> frais
gros -> gros
heureux -> heureux

The feminine plural adds an s (because in the fem form, they no longer end in an s or x anyway)
fraiche -> fraiches
grosse -> grosses
heureuse -> heureuses

Question 14

How do adjectives ending in eu or eau form the plural?

Answer 14

They add an x
beau -> beaux
Le livre est beau. Les livres sont beaux.
nouveau -> nouveaux
hébreu -> hébreux

The feminine plural adds an s (because in the fem form, they no longer end in an s or x anyway)

belle/nouvelle -> belles/nouvelles
bleue -> bleues

Question 15

How do adjectives ending in al form the plural?

What are 5 exceptions:

Answer 15

-al becomes aux:
Légal - légaux
Loyal - loyaux
Médiéval - médiévaux
royal - royaux
L’ami est loyal, les amis sont loyaux

5 exceptions are:
banal - banals
fatal - fatals
final - finales
natal - natals (native)
naval - navals (naval)

Note the feminine plural is regular:
Loyale - loyales
Fatale - fatales

Question 16

What is the rule re agreement of the adjectives demi, mi (mid) and nu (bare)?

Answer 16

1. Demi and mi don’t change with the gender or number if attached to a noun with a hyphen:
   Une demi-heure
   Des demi-frères
   la mi-septembre (in mid Sept)
   les yeux mi-clos (half-closed eyes)

but: une heure et demie (as not attached as above)

2. Nu doesn’t change with the gender or number if it precedes a noun with an article:

Nu-pieds (barefoot)
but: les pieds nus (not preceding)

Question 17

What is the rule re agreement of the adjectives ci-joint and ci-inclus?

Answer 17

They don’t change with the gender or number if they precedes a noun:
Vouz trouverez ci-joint les documents que vous m’avez demandés. (You will find the documents you requested attached)
but: Vous trouverez deux documents ci-joints (You will find 2 documents attached)

Question 18

What is the rule for adjectives describing the word gens?

Answer 18

If the adjective appears before gens, it is feminine
Les bonnes gens (good people)

If the adjective appears after gens, it is masculine
Les gens âgés (old people)

Note you can’t choose where to put it, some adjectives go before the noun and some go after it by convention.