Non-adjectives

Adjectifs qui ne le sont pas

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Adjectives comprise one of the eight French parts of speech, but certain members of other grammatical categories can sometimes be used as adjectives. These "non-adjectives" are invariable: there’s no gender/number agreement with the nouns they modify.

There are four types of non-adjective adjectives.

1) Adverbs used as adjectives

As far as I know, this is the complete list of French adverbs that can be used as adjectives:

allegro		allegro (quick, lively tempo)
arrière		back, rear
avant		front
bien		nice, decent
debout		standing, up
incognito		incognito
mal		wrong, bad, sick, uncomfortable

2) Prefixes used as adjectives

Five French prefixes are used as adjectives:

extra		great, first-rate, top-quality
hyper		excessive, to a very high degree
maxi		maximum, long
mini		small
super		great, terrific

3) Nouns used as adjectives

Many nouns can be used as adjectives; here are just a few examples.

les opérations escargot		rolling blockades
l’entrée est / nord / ouest / sud		east / north / west / south entrance
les mères gâteau		soft/indulgent mothers
une tarte maison		homemade pie
des chaussures sport		athletic shoes
les comptes utilisateur		user accounts
les câbles vidéo		video cables
les sites Web		websites

4) Noun clauses used as adjectives

Like all of the above, noun clauses do not agree with the nouns they are "adjectiving" for*

une voiture bon marché		a cheap car
ils sont de bonne humeur		they’re in a good mood
elles sont trop collet monté		they’re too straight-laced
les ascenseurs hors service		out-of-service elevators
les soi-disant victimes		alleged victims

 * But there is agreement within the noun clause – note that in the second example, bonne is feminine to agree with its noun humeur.

 Related lessons

• Adjectives used as nouns
• Parts of speech

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