Goal: To explain the adjectives, their function, and how they are made feminine and plural when necessary. 

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Adjectives are words that describe nouns. In the following English sentences, the adjectives are in red.

My older brother has a large room. 
The round table is on the Oriental rug. 
The paperweight was heavy, round, and cool in her open hand.

In the first example, the adjective "older" describes "my brother" and the adjective "large" describes "a room".

In the second example, "round" describes "the table" and "Oriental" describes "the rug."

In the last example, the adjectives "heavy," "round," and "cool" describe "the paperweight" while "open" describes "her hand."

Adjectives in French are different from their English counterparts in several ways:

They must have the same gender as the noun.

They must be plural if the noun is plural.

They usually go after the noun instead of before it.

Every adjective in its raw form is masculine. However, when it is used to describe a feminine noun, it must adopt that gender. Consider the following sentence.

L'avion est petit.

The subject of the sentence, "avion" (airplane), is maculine. Therefore the adjective, "petit" (small), is also masculine. Suppose you modified this sentence so it was about a car instead. Keep in mind that "voiture" (car) is feminine.

La voiture est petite.

When the adjective "petit" becomes feminine, it adds an "e" on the end. Let's insert some other adjectives into our pair of sentences and see what they do.

L'avion est vert.
La voiture est verte.

L'avion est français.
La voiture est française.

L'avion est brillant.
La voiture est brillante.

In all these examples, the adjective added an "e" on the end when it became feminine. Most adjectives that end in a consonant follow this pattern. Remember:

If an adjective ends in a consonant, add "-e" to make it feminine.

Now, consider these sentences.

Le garçon est fatigué.
La fille est fatiguée.

Le garçon est desolé.
La fille est desolée.

Le garçon est occupé.
La fille est occupée.

In all these examples, the adjective added an "e" on the end when it became feminine. All adjectives that end in an accented "e" follow this pattern. Remember:

If an adjective ends in an "é," add "-e" to make it feminine.

Now, consider these sentences.

L'homme est heureux.
La femme est heureuse.

L'homme est serieux.
La femme est serieuse.

In these examples, the ending changed from "-eux" to "-euse" when the adjective became feminine. Most adjectives that end in "eux" follow this pattern. Remember:

If an adjective ends in an "eux," change it to "euse" to make it feminine.

Lastly, consider these sentences.

Pierre est alsacien.
Marie est alsacienne.

Pierre est italien.
Marie est italienne.

In these examples, "-ne" was added when the adjective became feminine. Most adjectives that end in "ien" follow this pattern. Remember:

If an adjective ends in an "ien," add "ne" to make it feminine. 

In this lesson:
Adjective Gender | Plurality | Placement
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When an adjective describes a plural noun, the adjective must be plural also. Most adjectives, when made plural, simply add "-s" onto the form of the adjective that would otherwise be used. Consider this sentence:

This sentence contains an singular feminine article, La, a singular feminine noun, voiture, a singular conjugation of the verb être, est, and a singular feminine adjective, verte.

This sentence contains four words, all of which are plural. Les is the plural article. Voitures is the plural of "voiture." Sont is the conjugation of the verb être used with plural subjects. And, finally, vertes is the feminine plural of the adjective "vert" (green).

Now, consider these sentence pairs, paying special attention to the red words:

L'avion est bleu. = Les avions sont bleus. 
La fille est heureuse. = Les filles sont heureuses. 
Le garçon est italien. = Les garçons sont italiens. 
La chatte est méchante. = Les chattes sont méchantes.

Remember this rule: 
For all feminine adjectives and most masculine adjectives, add "-s" to make it plural.

These are examples of why the above rule doesn't include "all" masculine adjectives. These adjectives are irregular, and their individual forms must be learned.

In this lesson:
Adjective Gender | Plurality | Placement
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New Lesson 

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Almost every English adjective is placed before the noun. For example:

In French, almost every adjective is placed after the noun. The above examples become:

The following adjectives go before the noun even in French (notice how short this list is):

petit

mauvais

joli

bon

grand