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Position des adjectifs
French adjectives may be found before or after the nouns they modify, depending on various factors. There are two main categories of adjectives: descriptive adjectives, which usually follow nouns, and limiting adjectives, which precede nouns.
1) Descriptive adjectives
Descriptive adjectives are what you think of when someone says "adjective." Also known as qualifying adjectives, they describe a quality of a noun (color, size, shape …), distinguish between different nouns of the same type, and usually* follow the nouns they modify.
Par exemple…
| le livre vert | the green book | |
| le livre rouge | the red book |
Notes
A. Descriptive adjectives aren’t necessarily placed right next to the nouns they modify:
| Le livre est vert. | The book is green. | |
| Un des stylos doit être bleu. | One of the pens has to be blue. |
B. They can be modified by comparatives and superlatives:
| le livre moins intéressant | the less interesting book | |
| la plus belle maison | the prettiest house |
C. And they can be used in conjunction with other descriptive adjectives:
| le livre vert et rouge | the green and red book | |
| la belle maison gothique | the beautiful Gothic house |
* There are a few dozen French adjectives that precede nouns. Most of these can be memorized with the simple acronym BAGS:
| Beauty | une belle fille un joli appartement |
a beautiful girl a nice apartment |
| Age | un jeune homme une vieille dame |
a young man an old woman |
| Good and bad | une bonne idée un mauvais restaurant |
a good idea a bad restaurant |
| Size | un grand livre une petite maison |
a big book a small house |
Also see Adjectives that change meaning depending on their placement
2) Limiting adjectives
Limiting adjectives belong to the category of terms known as determiners: they specify which nouns are under discussion and always precede them.
Par exemple…
| mon livre | my book | |
| ton livre | your book |
Limiting adjectives can be used in conjunction with descriptive adjectives ….
| mon livre vert | my green book | |
| cette belle maison | this beautiful house |
… but not with other determiners (with a few exceptions).
Types of limiting adjectives
- Demonstrative adjectives
- Exclamative adjectives
- Indefinite adjectives
- Interrogative adjectives
- Numerical adjectives
- Possessive adjectives
- Relative adjective
French adjectives
- Introduction to adjectives
- Movable adjectives
- Non-adjectives
- Types of adjectives
- PwLF super list of adjective lessons
French lesson plans
- Beach Time: Color Adjectives (Worksheet, 4th-1th grade)
- Describing Family (Lesson, 1st-6th grade)
- La Graphologie (Lesson, 9th-12th grade)
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