Declension of adjectives in French. Adjective in French. The meaning of an adjective depending on its position

As is known, adjective- this is a part of speech that denotes the quality, property or belonging of an object and answers the questions “which?”, “which?”, “which?”, “which?” or “whose?”

In French adjectives change in gender and number, that is, they depend on the noun they refer to.

Rules for using adjectives

An adjective can be used without a noun and be part of a compound nominal predicate, for example: Il est petit- It's small. IN in this case the adjective agrees with the subject in gender and number: il– masculine and singular pronoun. If the subject is replaced by a pronoun or noun feminine, then the ending will be added to the adjective "e": Elle est petite.- She's small.

However, you need to remember that some masculine adjectives already end with the letter "e", this means they do not change by birth. There are few such adjectives, you need to remember them:

rouge- red
jaune- yellow
jeune- young
beige- beige
triste- sad
rose- pink

Some adjectives have a masculine gender after adding a vowel "e", the final consonant is doubled. This happens with adjectives with the following endings:
1. -en/-enne: europeen – europeenne(European)
2. -ien/-ienne: italien – italienne(Italian, -aya)
3. -on/-onne: mignon– mignonne(cute)
4. -as/-asse: bas-bass(low)
5. -os/-osse: gros-grosse(big)
6. -el/-elle: habituel - habituelle(regular)
7. -eil/-eille: pareil - pareille(similar)
8. -et/-ette: cadet – cadet(junior)

There are exceptions to this rule. Remember these words:
complet – complete(filled, -th)
concret – concrète(specific)
discrete– discrete(modest)
inquiet – inquiete(restless)
secret – secret(secret)

Adjectives ending in -eux or -eur in the masculine gender change to –euse: courageux - courageuse (brave). A similar rule applies to adjectives ending -teur: Feminine adjectives in this case receive endings -trice/-teuse: menteur - menteuse (lying). And the adjectives on -f in the feminine gender they get the ending -ve, for example: sportif - sportive.

If a masculine adjective ends in -er, then in the feminine it has the ending -ère: fier - fière (proud -aya), and the ending -With is changing -que: turc - turque (Turkish).

Some adjectives do not change their forms according to the rule. Try to remember:
vieux – vieille(old)
gentil – gentille(darling)
blanc - blanche(white)
frais – fraîche(fresh)
franc – franche(free)
sec – seche(dry)
doux - douce(gentle)
long – longue(long)
favori – favorite(favorite)

Interestingly, some adjectives have two masculine forms.

Adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux have in singular two masculine forms: Forms beau, nouveau, vieux used before nouns starting with a consonant: un nouveau cafe- new cafe.

Forms bel, nouvel, vieil used before nouns starting with a vowel or silent h, For example: un vieil ami- old friend.

In the feminine gender, these adjectives use one form: belle, nouvelle, vieille.

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Form feminine adjectives.
1. conservateur 2. jeune 3. noir 4. doux 5. sérieux 6. joli 7. actif 8. beau 9. ancien 10. muet

Answer 1.
1. conservatrice 2. jeune 3. noire 4. douce 5. sérieuse 6. jolie 7. active 8. belle 9. ancienne 10. muette

Adjectives in French are an integral part of a sentence, allowing one to define an object, its properties and characteristics. They change in gender, number, degree of comparison, which agree with the gender and number of the noun to which they refer. In the French language, unlike Russian, there are only 2 genders - masculine and feminine (in Russian there is a neuter gender). The feminine gender is formed by adding the ending - e to the adjective. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the pronunciation may remain unchanged if this ending is added to vowels or to pronounced consonants, as well as consonants -r and -l, for example, lumière (f - zh.r.) noire - black light, point (m - m.p.) noir - a dangerous place, or change if the ending is added to an unpronounceable consonant, for example, un grand personnage - a noble person, une grande nouvelle - important news, les grandes dates - the most important dates.

If the masculine gender has the ending -e, -able, -aire, -ique, -iste, etc., the form of the adjective in the feminine gender remains unchanged, for example: activité économique (f.r.) - economic activity, délit économique (m .р.) – economic offence; poisson rouge (m.r.) - red fish, une tomate (f.r.) rouge – red tomato.

When using adjectives in French, if the masculine and feminine forms of the adjective differ, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. If an adjective in the masculine gender ends in a voiceless consonant –s, then it becomes a voiced consonant in the feminine gender, for example, le livre français – French book, histoire française – French history.
2. If a masculine adjective ends in -en, -ien, -on, -et, the consonant is doubled and the ending –e is added, for example, ancien professeur – former teacher, ancienne cour – former court. But there are a number of exceptions to this rule, which are presented below:

complete – complete; filled; complete: gel complet – complete freezing, ruine complète – complete ruin (f.r.).

concret – concrete: but concret – a specific goal, musique concrète – concrete music (f.r.).

inquiet – worried, un homme inquiet – worried man, une femme inquiète – worried woman (female).

secret secret: service secret – secret service, issue secrete – secret exit.

3. If an adjective in the masculine gender ends with a consonant -f, then this ending becomes -ve in the feminine gender, for example, pensée neuve – fresh thought (f.r.), costume neuf – new suit.
4. If a masculine adjective ends in -er, -ier, these endings take the feminine accent grave over –e, for example, investissement étranger—foreign investment, affaire étrangère—foreign business.
5. If an adjective in the masculine gender ends in -eux, this ending becomes –euse in the feminine gender, for example, air heureux - a joyful look, heureuse expression - a successful expression (f.r.).
6. If a masculine adjective ends in -iel, -el, the letter -l in the feminine is doubled, for example, center industriel – industrial center, psychologie industrielle – engineering psychology (zh.r.).

Certain French adjectives do not fit more than one rule, and their masculine and feminine forms must be remembered:

bas– basse– low,

blanc– blanche– white,

beau– belle– beautiful,

frais– fraiche– fresh,

franc – franche – frank,

gros– grosse– thick,

long– longue– long,

nouveau– nouvelle– new,

pais– paisse– thick,

sec– sèche– dry,

doux– douce– sweet.

In French, there are masculine and feminine genders of nouns.

1. The most common way to form the feminine gender of nouns is to add the ending -e to the masculine noun, for example:

un Anglais - Englishman, une Anglaise - Englishwoman;
un voisin - neighbor, une voisine - neighbor;
un serveur - waiter, une serveuse - waitress.

2. Nouns ending in silent -e do not change in the feminine gender, for example:

un violoniste - violinist, une violoniste - violinist;
un complice - accomplice, une complice - accomplice;
un réaliste - realist, une réaliste - realist.

3. Nouns ending in -er in the masculine gender receive the ending -ère in the feminine gender, for example:

le banquier - banker (bank employee), la banquière - bank employee;
le cuisinier - cook, la cuisinière - cook;
le couturier - tailor, la couturière - seamstress.

4. If a masculine noun ends with a nasal vowel, then when forming the feminine gender, a silent -e is added, and the ending loses its nasal sound.

un copain - friend, une copine - friend;
un amant - lover, une amante - mistress.

5. When forming a feminine noun from a masculine noun that ends in -en, -ien, -on, as well as in the word paysan, a silent -e is added. In this case –n is doubled, for example:

le végétarien - vegetarian, la végétarienne - vegetarian;
le chien – dog, la chienne – dog;
le paysan - peasant, la paysanne - peasant woman.

6. If a feminine noun is formed from a masculine noun with the ending -f, then a silent -e is added and the ending changes -v. The vowel before the ending becomes long, for example:

le actif - activist, la active - activist.

Gender of adjectives

In French, adjectives can be masculine or feminine.

1. One way to form a feminine adjective is to add -e to a masculine adjective, for example:

fort – strong, forte – strong;
principal - main, principale - main;
capital – main, capitale – main.

2. If a feminine adjective is formed from a masculine adjective that ends in -c (pronounceable), then in the feminine adjective the ending will change to -que, for example:

public - public, publique - public.

But if the ending -c is silent, then the feminine adjective receives the ending -che, for example:

blanc - white, blanche - white.

3. If a masculine adjective has the ending -f, then when forming a feminine adjective, it receives the ending -ve:

neuf - new, neuve - new.

4. If a masculine adjective has the ending -g, then in the feminine gender it changes to the ending -gue:

long – long, longue – long.

5. Adjectives that have the ending -al in the masculine gender, when formed in the feminine gender, receive the ending -ale, for example:

amical – friendly, amicale – friendly.

6. The ending of masculine adjectives -el when changing to the feminine form -elle. In addition, -ul becomes -ulle, but the pronunciation remains the same:

cruel - cruel, cruelle - cruel.

7. If an adjective ends in -eil, then when formed feminine it receives the ending -eille, but the pronunciation does not change, for example:

pareil – similar, pareille – similar.

8. If in the masculine gender an adjective has the ending -il, then in the feminine gender it acquires the ending -ile, for example:

civil - civil, civile - civil.

9. The ending -n when forming the feminine gender becomes -ne, but adjectives ending in -on change the ending to -onne, for example:

fin – thin, fine – thin.

The exception is: paysan - peasant, paysanne - peasant.

10. The ending -ien becomes feminine in the ending -ienne:

Italien - Italian, Italienne - Italian.

11. If a masculine adjective has a silent ending -er, then in the feminine gender add -e and the sign “`”:

premier - first, première - first.

12. The ending -eur changes to -euse, for example:

rieur - funny, rieuse - funny.

13. The ending -teur in the masculine gender changes to -touse in the feminine if it is formed from a verb that has a -t in the infinitive before the ending, for example:

flotteur - floating, flottouse - floating.

14. The remaining adjectives with the ending -teur in the masculine gender, which are not formed from verbs with -t in the root, receive the ending - trice:

protecteur - protective, protectrice - protective.

13. The ending -s changes to the ending -se, for example: gris - gray, grise - gray. Exceptions to this rule are:

frais – fresh, fraiche – fresh;
tiers – third, tierce – third.

15. When forming the feminine gender, some adjectives double -s, such as:

gros – thick, grosse – thick;
gras – fat, grasse – fat;
las – tired, lasse – tired;
métis – mixed, métisse – mixed;
exprès – decisive, expresse – decisive;
épais – thick, épaisse – thick;
profès - one who has made a vow, professe - one who has made a vow.
bas – low, basse – low.

16. Adjectives in the masculine gender that end in -et, in the feminine gender take on the ending -ette:

coquet - charming, coquette - charming.

There are ten adjectives that end in -et, but in the feminine form receive the ending -ète, namely:

complet – filled, complète – filled;
concret – specific, concrète – specific;
secret - secret, secrete - secret;
incomplèt – unfinished, incomplète – unfinished;
indiscret – immodest, indiscrète – immodest;
inquiet – restless, inquiète – restless;
désuet – outdated, désuète – outdated;
discret – modest, discrète – modest;
quiet – calm, quiète calm;
replet - portly, replète - portly.

In French, there are masculine and feminine genders of adjectives. There are the following ways to form the feminine gender:

1)
Added - e to
masculine gender which is singular. For example: petit - petite, gris - grise.

2)
If the adjective is masculine
ends:

C (pronounced in speech) feminine ending
will be que. For example: public - publique.

C (which
not pronounced in speech) in the feminine gender will have the ending che. For example: blanc -blanche.

3) If the adjective is masculine
kind ends in - f then in
formation of the feminine gender it changes to -
ve. For example: neuf - neuve.

4) The ending g in the masculine becomes gue in the feminine. For example: long - longue.

5) The ending al changes ale
and at the same time l not
doubles. For example: amical -amicale.

6) The masculine ending el in the feminine forms elle, and also ul becomes ulle and when
this does not change the pronunciation. For example: cruel - cruelle, nul - nulle.

7) If a word ends in eil, then when it becomes feminine it acquires the ending eille, but the pronunciation remains the same. For example: pareil -pareille.

8) In the masculine il, then in the feminine ile. In this case, l does not double. For example: civil - civile.

9) The ending n becomes feminine ne, and words that end in on receive the ending onne.

For example: fin
- fine, bon - bonne. Available
and exception: paysan - paysanne.

10) The ending ien is converted to ienne. For example: Italien -Italienne.

11) When the adjective is standing
in the masculine gender it has an unpronounceable ending er then to form the feminine gender
add e and the “`” sign. For example: premier -
premier.

12) The ending eur changes to euse, and teur to touse (if
This is an adjective formed from a verb which in the infinitive has a t before the ending). For example: rieur-rieuse, flotter (verb) - flotteur(
masculine adjective) - flottouse (feminine). All
other adjectives not formed from a verb with a t in the root are formed in the following way: teur - trice. For example: protecteur
- protectrice.

13) Some adjectives
of Latin origin having the masculine ending eur forms eure. For example: anténeur - anténeure.

14) s changes to se gris-grise. There are exceptions: frais -
fraiche, tiers - tierce.

15) Several adjectives double s: gros - grosse, gras -
grasse, las - lasse, métis - métisse, expres
-expresse, épais - épaisse, profès - professe, bas - basse.

16) Masculine et in feminine ette. For example:
coquet - coquette. There are ten adjectives that
end in et - ète: complete-
complète, concret - concrète, secret - secrète, incomplete - incomplète, indiseret - indiserète, inquiet - inquiète, désuet -
desuète, discret - discrete,
quiet -
quiète, replete - replete.

17) In the masculine ot in the feminine ote. For example: idiot -idiote. There are words in which the t is doubled: sot -sotte, boulot -doulotte, vieillot - vieillotte.

18) The masculine ending eux in the feminine euse and oux - ouse. For example: jaloux - jalouse.

Exception words: beau
- belle, jumeau - jumelle, mou - molle, vieux - vieille, nouveau - nouvelle.

The general rule is that the feminine gender of adjectives in French is formed by adding an "e" to the masculine form: un cahier bleu - une cravate bleue.

If the original form of the masculine adjective ends in “e”, no change occurs: un livre utile - une chose utile.

To form the feminine form French adjectives can double the final consonant of the masculine form. The following cases are distinguished:

1. doubling “l” in adjectives ending in -el, -eil: un homme cruel - une loi cruelle, un sentiment pareil - une faiblesse pareille

The same thing happens in the words nul and gentil: une copie nulle, une manière gentille

2. doubling “n” in adjectives ending with -en, -on: une route aérienne, une fille bretonne

All other adjectives ending in “n” (-an, -in, -ain, -ein, -un), except “paysan”, do NOT double the final vowel: la langue persane, une pièce voisine, une voix hautaine, une collection pleine, une chambre commune

But: la communauté paysanne

3. doubling “t” in adjectives ending with -et: une robe coquette

Attention: the final consonant “t” in the feminine gender is NOT doubled:

A. all other adjectives ending in (-ot, -at): une réponse idiote, une situation délicate

b. the following exceptions:

complet - complete

secret - secret

inquiet - inquiete

desuet - desuete

discret - discrete

concret - concrete

replete - replete

incomplete - incomplete

Many adjectives, when forming the feminine gender, in addition to adding “e”, simultaneously undergo the replacement of the final vowel form of the masculine gender:

a. f - v: naïf - naïve, bref - breve

b. x - s: adjectives ending in -eux and the adjective “jaloux”: heureux - heureuse, jaloux - jalouse

x - ss: faux - fausse, roux - rousse

x - c: doux - douce

With. s - c: tiers - tierce

s - ch: frais - fraîche

d. c - ch: blanc - blanche, sec - sèche

c - qu: franc - franque, public - publique, caduc - caduque, ammoniac - ammoniaque, turc - turque

Attention: grec - grecque

d. n - gn: bénin - bénigne, malin - maligne

The feminine gender of adjectives in French can be formed independently of any rule:

favori - favorite

rigolo - rigolote

esquimau - esquimaude

andalou - andalouse

Adjectives ending in -er, -ier have a spelling feature in the feminine gender: they acquire the so-called. grave accent over “è”: léger - légère, dernier - dernière.

When forming the feminine gender, some adjectives undergo changes in their original form:

nouveau - nouvelle

jumeau - jumelle

vieux - vieille

Formation of feminine adjectives in -eur:

If such an adjective is formed from an existing verb, then the suffix “euse” will be in the feminine gender. For example: menteur - menteuse (derived from the verb mentir)

Exceptions:

enchanteur - enchanteresse

detecteur - detectrice