Module 05: Adjectives and Descriptions¶
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Master adjective agreement (gender and number), the BANGS placement rule, 50+ descriptive adjectives, and comparatives and superlatives for describing people, places, and things.
Table of Contents¶
Overview¶
An adjective without agreement is like a verb without conjugation — grammatically incomplete. In French, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they modify, and their position relative to the noun carries meaning. Module 05 teaches you to describe the world in French with accuracy: what people look like, what their personality is, how places feel, and how things compare.
This module also introduces the BANGS rule (Beauty, Age, Numbers, Goodness, Size) for adjectives that precede the noun — a mnemonic that captures the most important class of preceding adjectives, including those that change meaning based on position.
Prerequisites¶
- [[french/modules/03_nouns-and-articles]] — Grammatical gender and number (adjective agreement requires knowing noun gender)
- [[french/modules/04_verbs-present-tense]] — Basic sentence construction needed to use adjectives in sentences
Objectives¶
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Apply gender and number agreement rules to adjectives in all regular and most irregular patterns
- Place adjectives correctly (before or after the noun) using the BANGS rule and general post-noun default
- Use 50+ descriptive adjectives for people, places, and things
- Recognize and use adjectives that change meaning depending on their position (e.g., un grand homme vs. un homme grand)
- Form comparative constructions: plus...que, moins...que, aussi...que
- Form superlatives: le/la/les plus..., le/la/les moins...
- Use the irregular comparatives and superlatives: bon → meilleur, mauvais → pire, bien → mieux
Theory¶
Adjective Agreement (Accord de l'adjectif)¶
All French adjectives must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they modify. The base form of most adjectives is masculine singular.
Regular agreement patterns:
Pattern: Masculine → Feminine → Masc. Plural → Fem. Plural
grand → grande → grands → grandes (add -e; add -s)
petit → petite → petits → petites
intelligent → intelligente → intelligents → intelligentes
Special feminine patterns:
-eux → -euse: heureux → heureuse (happy)
-if → -ive: actif → active (active)
-el → -elle: naturel → naturelle (natural)
-il → -ille: gentil → gentille (kind)
-en → -enne: ancien → ancienne (ancient/former)
-er → -ère: premier → première (first)
-eur → -euse: menteur → menteuse (lying)
Invariable adjectives: Color adjectives derived from nouns never change: des yeux marron (brown eyes — marron never takes -s or -e), une chemise orange (an orange shirt — orange stays orange).
Agreement with multiple nouns: When an adjective modifies nouns of different genders, the masculine plural form is used (the "generic" masculine in traditional grammar, though this is contested in contemporary French): un homme et une femme intelligents.
Adjective Placement¶
Default position: AFTER the noun. Most French adjectives — especially those describing color, shape, origin, and physical characteristics — follow the noun.
une maison blanche (a white house)
un film français (a French film)
une femme intelligente (an intelligent woman)
The BANGS Rule: before the noun. These categories of adjectives typically precede the noun:
- Beauty: beau/belle (beautiful), joli(e) (pretty), laid(e) (ugly)
- Age: jeune (young), vieux/vieille (old), nouveau/nouvelle (new)
- Numbers/Order: premier (first), deuxième (second), dernier (last), prochain (next)
- Goodness: bon/bonne (good), mauvais(e) (bad), meilleur(e) (better), gentil/gentille (kind)
- Size: grand(e) (big/tall), petit(e) (small), gros/grosse (fat/big), long/longue (long), court(e) (short), haut(e) (high)
Liaison with preceding adjectives: BANGS adjectives make liaison with the following noun if it starts with a vowel: un grand‿arbre (a large tree — liaison -d becomes /t/), un bel‿homme (a handsome man — beau becomes bel before vowel).
Special forms before vowels: beau → bel, nouveau → nouvel, vieux → vieil (masculine singular before vowels):
un beau jardin BUT un bel arbre
un nouveau livre BUT un nouvel ami
un vieux château BUT un vieil homme
Adjectives that change meaning by position:
un grand homme (a great man — famous/important)
un homme grand (a tall man — physically tall)
un ancien élève (a former student)
un bâtiment ancien (an old/ancient building)
un cher ami (a dear friend)
un restaurant cher (an expensive restaurant)
un seul enfant (an only child)
un enfant seul (a lonely/alone child)
la propre voiture (one's own car)
une voiture propre (a clean car)
Comparatives and Superlatives¶
Comparatives (more/less/as...as):
plus + adj + que more ... than Elle est plus grande que lui.
moins + adj + que less ... than Il est moins patient que moi.
aussi + adj + que as ... as Je suis aussi fatigué que toi.
Superlatives (the most/least):
le/la/les plus + adj the most ... C'est la plus belle ville.
le/la/les moins + adj the least ... C'est le moins cher.
Note: The superlative article (le/la/les) must agree with the noun's gender.
Irregular comparatives and superlatives:
bon(ne) → meilleur(e) (better) → le/la meilleur(e) (the best)
mauvais(e) → pire (worse) → le/la pire (the worst)
bien → mieux (better, adv.) → le mieux (the best, adv.)
mal → pis / plus mal (worse, adv.)
petit(e) → moindre (lesser, in value) or plus petit(e) (physically smaller)
Key Concepts¶
Agreement is non-optional. Un maison blanc is not "approximately correct" French — it is wrong in a way that every French speaker will notice. Agreement errors accumulate in compound sentences, where multiple adjectives must all agree with their respective nouns.
The BANGS mnemonic captures the most common preceding adjectives but not all. A few additional adjectives habitually precede the noun: autre (other), même (same), tel (such), certain (certain — meaning "a certain"), quelque (some). These must be learned individually.
Position changes meaning for a specific set of adjectives. The most important pairs are grand homme/homme grand, ancien élève/bâtiment ancien, cher ami/restaurant cher, propre voiture/voiture propre, seul enfant/enfant seul. Knowing these pairs demonstrates genuine grammatical sophistication.
Examples¶
Example 1: Describing a Person¶
Mon ami Thomas est grand et mince. Il a les cheveux bruns et les yeux bleus.
Il est intelligent et travailleur, mais parfois un peu têtu.
C'est un bon ami — il est toujours gentil avec moi.
My friend Thomas is tall and slim. He has brown hair and blue eyes.
He is intelligent and hardworking, but sometimes a little stubborn.
He is a good friend — he is always kind to me.
Notes:
- grand, mince: follow the noun (physical descriptions)
- bon: precedes the noun (BANGS: goodness)
- gentil: irregular feminine would be gentille (here masc., agrees with ami)
Example 2: Comparative Sentences¶
Le métro est plus rapide que le bus, mais moins confortable.
The metro is faster than the bus, but less comfortable.
Cette boulangerie est la meilleure du quartier.
This bakery is the best in the neighborhood.
(meilleure: feminine, agrees with boulangerie)
Common Pitfalls¶
Pitfall 1: Invariable color adjectives.
Pitfall 2: Using bon where bien is needed (and vice versa).
bon/bonne: adjective (modifies noun) — un bon livre (a good book)
bien: adverb (modifies verb/adjective) — Il parle bien français.
Wrong: Elle parle bon français.
Correct: Elle parle bien français. (bien modifies the verb parle)
Pitfall 3: Forgetting the masculine-before-vowel special forms.
Cross-Links¶
- [[french/modules/03_nouns-and-articles]] — Grammatical gender of nouns determines adjective agreement
- [[french/modules/06_past-tenses]] — Past participle agreement in passé composé follows the same agreement principles as adjectives
- [[french/modules/09_subjunctive-and-advanced-grammar]] — Superlatives can trigger the subjunctive: C'est la meilleure chose que je sache (It's the best thing I know)
Summary¶
- Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify
- Regular feminine: add -e; regular plural: add -s; special patterns: -eux→-euse, -if→-ive, -el→-elle, -er→-ère
- Default position: after the noun; BANGS adjectives precede the noun
- Special masculine-before-vowel forms: bel, nouvel, vieil
- Some adjectives change meaning depending on position (grand, ancien, cher, propre, seul)
- Comparatives: plus/moins/aussi + adj + que
- Superlatives: le/la/les plus/moins + adj
- Irregular: bon → meilleur, mauvais → pire, bien → mieux