Quick Study: Adjectives

Question 1

What do adjective do?

Answer 1

They describe a noun or pronoun.

Question 2

How and with what must adjectives agree?

Answer 2

They must agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun modified.

Question 3

How do you change most masculine adjectives to the feminine?

• intelligent*
• américain*
• grand*

Answer 3

Add an “e.”

• intelligente*
• américaine*
• grande*

Question 4

How do you change the masculine adjective ending -el to a feminine ending?

mutuel

Answer 4

• -elle*
• mutelle*

Question 5

How do you change the masculine adjective endings -eur and -eux to a feminine ending?

paresseux

Answer 5

• -euse*
• paresseuse*

Question 6

How do you change the masculine adjective ending -er to a feminine ending?

cher

Answer 6

• -ère*
• chère*

Question 7

How do you change the masculine adjective ending -ien to a feminine ending?

canadien

Answer 7

• -ienne*
• canadienne*

Question 8

How do you change the masculine adjective ending -if to a feminine ending?

destructif

Answer 8

• -ive*
• destructive*

Question 9

How do you change the masculine adjective ending -il to a feminine ending?

pareil

Answer 9

• -ille*
• pareille*

Question 10

1. How do you make the following colors feminine: blanc, bleu, gris, vert, voilet?
2. How do you make the following colors feminine: jaune, rose, rouge?
3. What two colors don’t change regardless of gender or number?

Answer 10

1. blanche, bleue, grise, verte, violette
2. Colors that end is a mute “e” have a single form shared by both masculine and feminine nouns.
3. marron and orange

Question 11

Where are most descriptive adjectives, including those of nationality or color, placed in relation to the nouns they modify?

Answer 11

After the noun.

Question 12

What acronym can you use to help remember which adjectives go before nouns?

Answer 12

BAGS

B for beauty: beau (beautiful), joli (pretty)

• exceptions: laid (ugly), affreux (atrocious)

A for age: jeune (young), vieux (old), nouveau (new)

• exception: âgé (old)

G for goodness: bon (good), meilleur (better), mauvais (bad), gentil (kind)

• exception: méchant (mean)

S for size: petit (small), haut (high), gros (fat)

Question 13

Besides BAGS adjectives, what other adjectives go before nouns (3)?

Answer 13

1. Ordinal adjectives — that is, adjectives that describe the order in which things come, like first, second, last.
   * Nous vivons au vingt-et-unième siècle.*
2. The adjective tout (all, every) precedes not just the noun but also the article + noun.
   * Elle mange tout le temps.* (masculine singular)
   * Il a plu toute la journée.* (feminine singular)
   * Tu travailles tous les jours.* (masculine plural)

Toutes les filles de la classe sont blondes. (feminine plural)

3. The adjectives autre (other), faux (false, untrue), même (same), and tel (such), also go before nouns.

Question 14

Some adjectives can go either before or after a noun. Generally, how does their meaning change based upon this placement?

Answer 14

figurative (noun) literal

ancien - former (noun) antique, old

certain - some (noun) sure

cher - dear (noun) expensive

dernier - final (noun) previous/last (in expressions of time)

grand (for people) - great (noun) tall

pauvre - wretched, miserable (noun) poor, broke

prochain - next (in a sequence) (noun) next/following

propre - (my) own (noun) clean

seul - only (noun) alone

simple - mere (noun) simple

Question 15

If a plural noun used in the partitive is preceded by an adjective, what does the partitive article des change to?

J’ai acheté des <insert adjective> pommes.

Answer 15

• de*
• J’ai acheté de belles pommes.*

Question 16

List the demonstrative adjectives (4).

this restaurant

this student

this chair

these dresses

Answer 16

• ce* (masculine singular before a consonant)
• ce restaurant*
• cet* (masculine singular before a vowel or mute “h.”
• cet étudiant*
• cette* (feminine singular)
• cette chaise*
• ces* (masculine/feminine plural)
• ces robes*

Question 17

How do you indicate the relative distance between the speaker and what is spoken of when using demonstrative adjectives?

this bottle

these pencils

that chair

those stores

Answer 17

The suffixes -ci (for something close) and -là (for something further away) are added to the noun.

• cette bouteille-ci*
• ces crayons-ci*
• cette chaise-là*
• ces magasins-là*

Question 18

List the possessive adjectives.

Answer 18

• mon/ma/mes*
• ton/ta/tes*
• son/sa/ses*
• notre/nos*
• votre/vos*
• leur/leurs*

Question 19

What do possessive adjectives agree with?

Answer 19

They agree in gender and number with the noun modified - not with the possessor, but with what is possessed.

Question 20

What happens to ma, ta, and sa when the following word begins with a vowel sound?

Answer 20

They are changed to mon, ton, son.

Question 21

List the interrogative adjectives.

Answer 21

quel/quelle

quels/quelles

Question 22

What are interrogative adjectives followed by?

Answer 22

By the nouns they modify or by the verb être and the noun it modifies.

Quelle est la nationalité de ton professeur?

Question 23

What are interrogative adjectives used for?

Answer 23

They are used to ask questions or to get more precise information about a noun.

Question 24

Some adjectives have two masculine forms as well as a feminine form. What are all three forms of the following adjectives?

1. beau (good-looking/pretty/handsome)
2. nouveau (new)
3. vieux (old)
4. fou (crazy)
5. mou (soft)

Answer 24

1. beau

masculine before consonant: beau

masculine before vowel: bel

feminine: belle
2. nouveau

masculine before consonant: nouveau

masculine before vowel: nouvel

feminine: nouvelle
1. vieux

masculine before consonant: vieux

masculine before vowel: vieil

feminine: vieille
1. fou

masculine before consonant: fou

masculine before vowel: fol

feminine: folle
1. mou

masculine before consonant: mou

masculine before vowel: mol

feminine: molle