Chic, brunette, premiere, naive. There are a number of French words—including French adjectives—that are easily recognizable and often used in English. Once you start learning French, you’ll want to start learning and using adjectives to make your conversations more descriptive. But it can be confusing to know when to use beau instead of belle or petit instead of petite, or where to place adjectives in a sentence.
Being familiar with a few basic rules will help you make sure you’re using those adjectives correctly every time. Below, we have a list of over 100 adjectives to get you started. And don’t miss the French grammar rules for adjectives at the end to really master using descriptive language in French.
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How to use French adjectives correctly
Before you dive into our French adjectives list you’ll need to understand how to use them correctly in a sentence. The placement of adjectives in a sentence is important to learn along since it’s an essential part of speech in French. Adjectives can also change their endings depending on the gender and number.
Adjectives often go after the noun
Most adjectives go after the noun they modify:
- un homme gentil = a nice man
- une fleur rose = a pink flower
However, a few adjectives go before the noun. These are the adjectives that describe a person or object’s beauty, age, goodness, and size.
- une jolie femme = a pretty woman
- un vieux bâtiment = an old building
- un bon livre = a good book
- un grand homme = a tall man
You can use any adjective with the verb être (is) to link with the noun. In that case, the word order is always noun + être + adjective, regardless of the adjective type.
- La fleur est rose. = The flower is pink.
- L’homme est beau. = The man is handsome.
Adjective endings change to match noun gender and number
In English, nouns show singular or plural based on their ending. This is fairly straightforward and accomplished by placing an -s, -es or -ies to the end of a word.
- one book / two books
- one strawberry / two strawberries
French also indicates if a noun is singular or plural by changing the ending, with a little more complexity. In addition to number, nouns in French also have a grammatical gender. French nouns can be either masculine or feminine and it’s an arbitrary assignment that is best learned through repeated practice and exposure to vocabulary.
Words that modify nouns, like French articles and adjectives, need to agree in gender and in number. You will need to be cognizant of both since French adjective endings will often change to reflect that agreement.
The masculine singular form is considered the base form of an adjective. If you’re talking about a masculine singular noun, you don’t need to make any changes to the adjective ending.
- a livre vert = a green book
- un homme américain = an American man
If the noun is feminine and singular, you can usually make the adjective agree by adding an -e to the end.
- une pomme verte = a green apple
- une femme polie = a polite woman
If the noun is plural, an adjective can be made plural by adding an -s to the end.
- les livres verts = the green books
- les hommes américains = the American men
- les pommes vertes = the green apples
- les femmes polies = the polite women
@atfrenchies French adjectives make NO SENSE
♬ original sound – ATfrenchies#french #learnfrench
Common exceptions to using adjectives in French correctly
The French language always has a few exceptions, and there are quite few adjectives that have irregular spelling changes depending on the gender and number of the noun.
Irregular feminine forms
We explained above that certain nouns will be feminine in gender, and typically, adjectives modifying these nouns will just need an -e attached to the end. When you come across an irregular feminine noun, you’ll notice that certain final consonants will be doubled before adding the -e. Take a look a the following examples:
n → nne
- un homme canadien = a Canadian man
- une femme canadienne = a Canadian woman
l → lle
- un homme gentil = a nice man
- une femme gentille = a nice woman
s → sse
- un gros coq = a fat rooster
- une grosse poule = a fat hen
Additionally, some endings will change slightly in the feminine form
x→se
- un homme heureux = a happy man
- une femme heureuse = a happy woman
f → ve
- un homme naïf = a naive man
- une femme naïve = a naive woman
Plural noun agreement
Luckily, there are no irregular endings to learn to make plural adjective forms. However, if a singular adjective ends in x or s, don’t add an additional s to the ending to show plural, just leave it as is.
- un homme heureux = a happy man
- les hommes heureux = the happy men
- un gros chat = a fat cat
- les gros chats = the fat cats
Irregular French adjectives: beau, nouveau, and vieux
There are a few adjectives that have significantly different forms depending on the gender and number. There are three irregular adjectives that are used most frequently: beau, nouveau, and vieux. Since these are commonly used words, we’ve included this section to help you be successful.
Beau = handsome / beautiful
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| Singular | beau | belle |
| Plural | beaux | belles |
Here are several examples:
- un beau garçon = a handsome boy
- deux beaux garçons = two handsome boys
- une belle fille = a beautiful girl
- deux belles filles = two beautiful girls
And, there’s even one more irregular form for this adjective! Based on the table above, it might seem logical to say:
- un beau homme = a handsome man
But this is incorrect.
In general, the French language avoids having two vowel sounds next to each other. The “o” sound in beau and the “o” sound in homme are doing just that. To avoid this awkwardness, French has an additional form for an adjective placed before a noun that starts with a vowel sound that is both masculine and singular.
In these instances, you will take the feminine singular form (belle) and drop the last two letters (le) to get the correct version of the adjective.
- un bel homme = a handsome man
Nouveau = new
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| Singular | nouveaunouvel (before a vowel) | nouvelle |
| Plural | nouveaux | nouvelles |
- un nouveau livre = a new book
- un nouvel appartement = a new apartment
- les nouveaux livres = the new books
- une nouvelle maison = a new house
- les nouvelles maisons = the new houses
Vieux = old
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| Singular | vieuxvieil (before a vowel) | vieille |
| Plural | vieux | vieilles |
- un vieux livre = an old book
- un vieil appartement = an old apartment
- les vieux livres = the old books
- une vieille maison = an old house
- les vieilles maisons = the old houses
Invariable adjectives in French
Finally, there are invariable adjectives. These are words that keep the same form no matter the number or gender of the noun they modify. You’ll want to confirm that a modifier is indeed an invariable adjective in the context you plan to use it before skipping agreement, but you can use the following clues to make an educated guess.
Shortened forms of longer adjectives are often invariable. Take a look at how sympa (the shortened form of sympathique) is used below:
- les hommes sympa = the nice men
Many loan words (words borrowed from a different language) don’t take on endings either. For example, “cool” doesn’t need an -e or -s at the end of it to agree with “girls.”
- les filles cool = the cool girls
Many color words derived from nouns (marron, orange, and turquoise, for example) are also invariable adjectives.
- les livres marron = the brown books
A comprehensive list of French adjectives you’ll need to know
French has thousands of adjectives, but this list is the perfect place for beginner learners to start. Here, you’ll find commonly used adjectives, along with their English translations for a variety of topics, from describing people to identifying colors.
French adjectives to describe a person’s physical attributes
Knowing how to describe a person is helpful when telling a story or talking about a new crush. The words below are helpful adjectives in French when you want to describe how a person looks.
| French | English |
| âgé | old |
| beau | handsome, beautiful (man) |
| belle | Beautiful, pretty (woman) |
| blond | blond |
| bouclé | curly |
| brun | brunette |
| châtain | light brown |
| chauve | bald |
| court | short |
| faible | weak |
| fort | strong |
| frisé | wavy |
| grand | big |
| gros | fat |
| jeune | young |
| joli | pretty |
| laid | ugly |
| long | long |
| mauvais | bad |
| meilleur | better |
| mignon | cute |
| mince | thin |
| noisette | hazel |
| petit | little, small |
| raide | straight |
| roux | red-haired |
| vieux | old |
Adjectives in French to describe a personality or circumstance
Beyond physical characteristics, it’s helpful to know some French adjectives to describe a personality or what a person is doing. They might be funny, busy, or sincere!
| French | English |
| agréable | pleasant |
| amusant | funny, amusing |
| bon | good |
| charmant | charming |
| egoïste | self-centered |
| elégant | elegant |
| heureux | happy |
| impatient | impatient |
| impoli | rude |
| indépendant | independent |
| inquiet | worried |
| intelligent | intelligent, smart |
| mal | evil |
| marié | married |
| moche | ugly |
| nouveau | new |
| occupé | busy |
| optimiste | optimistic |
| patient | patient |
| pessimiste | pessimistic |
| poli | polite |
| réservé | reserved |
| sincère | sincere |
| sociable | sociable |
| sympathique | nice |
| sympa | nice (shortened, more common form of sympathique) |
| timide | shy |
| veuf | widowed |
French adjectives to describe objects and places
This list of French adjectives goes even deeper. It’s all about how to describe objects and places so you can tell a person where to find something or what it looks like. It’s also helpful to describe situations that may be comfortable or unpleasant.
| French | English |
| bas | low |
| brillant | bright |
| chaud | hot |
| cher | expensive |
| clair | light (in color) |
| confortable | comfortable |
| cool | cool, awesome |
| désagréable | unpleasant |
| différent | different |
| difficile | difficult |
| facile | easy |
| faux | false |
| foncé | dark (in color) |
| froid | cold |
| haut | high |
| important | important |
| intéressant | interesting |
| léger | light |
| lourd | heavy |
| pauvre | poor |
| premier | first |
| propre | clean |
| riche | rich |
| sale | dirty |
| similaire | similar |
| tout | all |
| vrai | true |
Using colors as adjectives in French
The colors of the rainbow are worth describing! Classic rouge and stunning rose paired with noir are classic French colors that can describe some of your favorite things you see on a trip to Paris. And maybe marron for that perfectly baked pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant).
| French | English |
| blanc | white |
| bleu | blue |
| gris | gray |
| jaune | yellow |
| marron | brown |
| noir | black |
| orange | orange |
| rose | pink |
| rouge | red |
| vert | green |
| violet | purple |
Nationalities in French
Paris is a melting pot of people from around the world. It’s helpful to know how to say different nationalities when describing a person’s heritage. Unlike English, the adjective forms of nationalities in French are not capitalized.
- He is American = Il est américain.
- They are French = Ils sont français.
| French | English |
| algérien | Algerian |
| allemand | German |
| américain | American |
| anglais | English |
| australien | Australian |
| belge | Belgian |
| canadien | Canadian |
| chinois | Chinese |
| espagnol | Spanish |
| français | French |
| haïtien | Haitian |
| japonais | Japanese |
| marocain | Moroccan |
| mexicain | Mexican |
| portugais | Portuguese |
| suisse | Swiss |
| russe | Russian |
| tunisien | Tunisian |
| vietnamien | Vietnamese |
Quickly master French adjectives with Rosetta Stone
Adjective agreement in French is essential to using adjectives correctly. With so many exceptions to those rules, learning adjectives may feel a little overwhelming. Fortunately, you can get lots of practice with Live Lessons with a native-speaking Rosetta Stone tutor. It’s the best way to learn a language naturally and quickly.
Written by Denise Brown
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