Quick Study: Adjectives Flashcards
What do adjective do?
They describe a noun or pronoun.
How and with what must adjectives agree?
They must agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun modified.
How do you change most masculine adjectives to the feminine?
- intelligent*
- américain*
- grand*
Add an “e.”
- intelligente*
- américaine*
- grande*
How do you change the masculine adjective ending -el to a feminine ending?
mutuel
- -elle*
- mutelle*
How do you change the masculine adjective endings -eur and -eux to a feminine ending?
paresseux
- -euse*
- paresseuse*
How do you change the masculine adjective ending -er to a feminine ending?
cher
- -ère*
- chère*
How do you change the masculine adjective ending -ien to a feminine ending?
canadien
- -ienne*
- canadienne*
How do you change the masculine adjective ending -if to a feminine ending?
destructif
- -ive*
- destructive*
How do you change the masculine adjective ending -il to a feminine ending?
pareil
- -ille*
- pareille*
- How do you make the following colors feminine: blanc, bleu, gris, vert, voilet?
- How do you make the following colors feminine: jaune, rose, rouge?
- What two colors don’t change regardless of gender or number?
- blanche, bleue, grise, verte, violette
- Colors that end is a mute “e” have a single form shared by both masculine and feminine nouns.
- marron and orange
Where are most descriptive adjectives, including those of nationality or color, placed in relation to the nouns they modify?
After the noun.
What acronym can you use to help remember which adjectives go before nouns?
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)
Besides BAGS adjectives, what other adjectives go before nouns (3)?
- Ordinal adjectives — that is, adjectives that describe the order in which things come, like first, second, last.
* Nous vivons au vingt-et-unième siècle.* - 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)
- The adjectives autre (other), faux (false, untrue), même (same), and tel (such), also go before nouns.
Some adjectives can go either before or after a noun. Generally, how does their meaning change based upon this placement?
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
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.
- de*
- J’ai acheté de belles pommes.*
List the demonstrative adjectives (4).
this restaurant
this student
this chair
these dresses
- 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*
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
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*
List the possessive adjectives.
- mon/ma/mes*
- ton/ta/tes*
- son/sa/ses*
- notre/nos*
- votre/vos*
- leur/leurs*
What do possessive adjectives agree with?
They agree in gender and number with the noun modified - not with the possessor, but with what is possessed.
What happens to ma, ta, and sa when the following word begins with a vowel sound?
They are changed to mon, ton, son.
List the interrogative adjectives.
quel/quelle
quels/quelles
What are interrogative adjectives followed by?
By the nouns they modify or by the verb être and the noun it modifies.
Quelle est la nationalité de ton professeur?
What are interrogative adjectives used for?
They are used to ask questions or to get more precise information about a noun.
Some adjectives have two masculine forms as well as a feminine form. What are all three forms of the following adjectives?
- beau (good-looking/pretty/handsome)
- nouveau (new)
- vieux (old)
- fou (crazy)
- mou (soft)
- 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
