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Adjectifs irréguliers
Five French adjectives are particularly tricky for several reasons.
- They are among the relatively few adjectives that precede nouns.
- They have very irregular feminine forms.
- They have three masculine forms.
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Masc | Special | Fem | Masc | Fem | |
| beau | bel | belle | beaux | belles | |
| fou | fol | folle | fous | folles | |
| mou | mol | molle | mous | molles | |
| nouveau | nouvel | nouvelle | nouveaux | nouvelles | |
| vieux | vieil | vieille | vieux | vieilles | |
As you can see, in addition to the usual four adjective forms required to agree with nouns in gender and number, there is a special fifth form that is used only with masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel or mute h.
Par exemple …
| un beau pays | un bel endroit | |
| un fou rire | un fol héroïsme | |
| un mou refus | un mol effort | |
| un nouveau mois | un nouvel an | |
| un vieux monsieur | un vieil homme |
Notes
- The special masculine form is required for euphony.
- It’s pronounced just like the feminine adjective.
- There is no special form for plural nouns.
Par exemple …
| plusieurs beaux endroits |
| trois vieux hommes |
Irregular Adjectives Quiz
Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on agreement with beau, nouveau, and vieux with this fill-in-the-blanks exercise:
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
Expressions with bel
Bel is also found in two fixed expressions:
- bel et bien – well and truly, really, undoubtedly
- tout cela est bel et bon (mais…) – that’s all well and good (but …)
Related lessons
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