French Adjective Agreement: Every Rule You Need
Why French Adjectives Keep Changing Shape
In English an adjective never moves: a green door, green doors, a green wall. In French, the adjective is a chameleon — it must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Get the agreement wrong and your writing instantly signals "beginner" to a TCF or DELF examiner. The good news: 90% of agreement follows just a handful of rules.
The Four Forms of Every Adjective
Most French adjectives have four written forms. Take vert (green):
- Masculine singular: un mur vert (a green wall)
- Feminine singular: une porte verte (add -e)
- Masculine plural: des murs verts (add -s)
- Feminine plural: des portes vertes (add -es)
The Default Rule: Add -e for Feminine, -s for Plural
If an adjective already ends in -e (with no accent), it does not change in the feminine: un homme calme / une femme calme. If it already ends in -s, it does not add another in the masculine plural: un pull gris / des pulls gris.
Irregular Feminine Endings to Memorize
These patterns cover almost every "tricky" adjective you will meet:
- -eux → -euse: heureux → heureuse (happy)
- -f → -ve: actif → active (active), neuf → neuve (new)
- -er → -ère: cher → chère (dear/expensive), premier → première
- -on → -onne, -el → -elle, -et → -ette: bon → bonne, cruel → cruelle, muet → muette
- -c → -che / -que: blanc → blanche (white), public → publique
Truly Irregular Adjectives
A small set simply must be learned by heart, including the three that have a special form before a masculine noun starting with a vowel:
- beau → bel / belle: un bel homme, une belle maison
- nouveau → nouvel / nouvelle: un nouvel ami, une nouvelle voiture
- vieux → vieil / vieille: un vieil arbre, une vieille dame
Placement: BAGS Go Before the Noun
Unlike English, most French adjectives come after the noun: une voiture rouge. But a frequent group sits before it. Remember the acronym BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size.
- Beauty: une belle journée
- Age: un jeune enfant, une vieille histoire
- Goodness: un bon repas, un mauvais choix
- Size: un grand bâtiment, une petite ville
The Meaning-Changing Position Trap
A few adjectives change meaning depending on whether they come before or after the noun. This is a classic C1 nuance examiners love:
- un ancien professeur (a former teacher) vs un livre ancien (an old/antique book)
- un grand homme (a great man) vs un homme grand (a tall man)
- ma propre chambre (my own room) vs ma chambre propre (my clean room)
Agreement With Mixed Groups
When an adjective describes both masculine and feminine nouns together, the masculine plural wins: Le garçon et la fille sont intelligents. This rule applies even if there are ten feminine nouns and one masculine — French defaults to the masculine plural form.
The Most Common Mistake to Avoid
Learners often agree the adjective with the nearest word instead of the noun it actually describes. Always ask: which noun does this adjective belong to? Then match its gender and number. Master that single question and your written accuracy score will climb immediately.
Want a structured path through grammar like this? Explore our French learning parcours for a complete course roadmap.