-et and -ette Suffix

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Les suffixes -et et -ette

The French suffixes -et (masculine) and –ette (feminine) can be added to nouns (including proper nouns), verbs, and adjectives.

1) Noun + –et  /  –ette

The suffixes –et and –ette are usually diminutives when added to nouns.

Par exemple…

Nom	English		Français	English
un ballon	balloon		un ballonet	small balloon
une cuve	vat, tank		une cuvette	basin, bowl
une île	island		un îlet	small island
une malle	trunk		une mallette	suitcase, briefcase

Sometimes the relationship between the original noun and its suffixed counterpart is more figurative.

Originel	English		Nouveau	English
une courge	squash		une courgette	zucchini
un noix	walnut		une noisette	hazelnut
une rose	rose		une rosette	rosette (rose-shaped decoration)

1½) Proper noun + –et  /  –ette

Suffixes can be added to masculine or feminine names to make diminutives:

Prénom		Diminutif
Jacques		Jacquet
Julie		Juliette
Michel		Michelet

In addition, –ette may be added to masculine names to make them feminine:

Masculin		Féminin
Antoine		Antoinette
Henri		Henriette
Yves		Yvette

More: French names

2) Verb + –et  /  –ette

The suffixes can be added to the roots of verbs (verb minus infinitive ending) to make related nouns.

Verbe	English		Nom	English
allumer	to light		une allumette	match
jouer	to play		un jouet	toy
siffler	to whistle		un sifflet	whistle
trottiner	to trot along		une trottinette	scooter

3) Adjective + –et  /  –ette

The suffixes can be added to adjectives, with one of two results.

a. The new adjective is softer, weakened form of the original, along the lines of "somewhat ____."

Adjectif	English		Adjectifs	English
(fou) folle	crazy		follet, follette	scatterbrained
(mou) molle	soft		mollet, mollette	fairly soft
(long) longue	long		longuet, longuette	a bit (too) long

b. The new adjective is a stronger form of the original: "very ____."

Adjectif	English		Adjectifs	English
jeune	young		jeunet, jeunette	very young (pejorative)
propre	clean		propret, proprette	sparkling clean

 Note that the feminine form of the original adjective is always the starting point for both the masculine and feminine forms of the new, suffixed adjective.

Want more?

For more French words that end in –et or –ette, try the amazing Recherche par critères feature of Le Petit Robert. You can choose a catégorie grammaticale to see just nouns, for example, or leave that section blank for a complete list.

En anglais

There are a number of English words with the suffixes –et and especially –ette, which usually act as a diminutive. For example,

• booklet
• featurette
• kitchenette
• towelette

But as in French, the relationship between the original and suffixed word doesn’t always have to do with size – e.g., bachelorette and leaflet. Also, watch out for this

 Faux ami: brunette. In English, this refers to a woman with dark hair, which in French is simply une brune. So since –ette is a diminutive, une brunette in French means "a petite woman with dark hair."

 Related lessons

• Adjectives
• Infinitives
• Names
• Nouns

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