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 Maman & Tochter



Saturday, June 17, 2006

Leçon 13

Les adjectifs qualificatifs

Adjectives have to agree to the nouns.
'e' is usually added to an adjective that describes a feminine singular noun.
'es' to feminine plural
's' to masculine plural
Nothing is to be added to an adjective that describes a masculine singular noun.

Of course, there are exceptions. Eg. nouveau, beau, vieux.

Masculine Singular + Consonant | nouveau | beau | vieux
Masculine Singular + Vowel | nouvel | bel | vieil [For pronunciation reasons (similar to the replacement of vowels with an apostrophe)]
Masculine Plural | nouveaux | beaux | vieux
Feminine Singular + Consonant/Vowel | nouvelle | belle | vieille
Feminine Plural | nouvelles | belles | vieilles

A word is an adjective when:
1. It doesn't have any article attached to it.
2. It's preceded by the verb être.
Usually, any word that comes immediately after être has to agree with the subject. The past participle is an example. However, if there is an article after être, the words that comes after the article will most likely be a nom. (Duh)

Therefore, occupations can be adjectives. That explains why they have both the masculine & feminine forms. Some occupations only have one form, that can be used for the 2 genders.

In English, all adjectives are placed before the nouns, but in French, adjectives that have 2 or less syllables are placed before the noun and those that have 3 or more syllables are placed after the noun. Colours & nationalities are exceptions. That is, they are always placed after the noun regardless of the number of syllables they have.

J'AIME LA FRANCE

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