Adjectives in French and Russian are very similar: they agree with the noun. In French, adjectives must agree in gender and number. And if we decided on the gender of adjectives in the previous lesson, then this one will be devoted to ways of forming the plural of adjectives.
Ways to form the plural of adjectives
Like nouns, adjectives in French form their plurals according to one simple general rule: they are added to the ending "s" For example: intéressant – intéressants(interesting, -s).
For those adjectives that already end in "s" or at "x", one more "s" no need to add: épais(dense, -s). Don't forget, to recognize the plural by ear, you will need to pay attention to the article.
All feminine adjectives form their plural by adding "s" with no exceptions.
Some changes occur with masculine adjectives. First, to the adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux(second form of adjectives bel, nouvel, vieil) in the plural add "x": "beaux" And "nouveau". To the form vieux nothing is added because of the end "x".
Adjectives on "-al" change the plural ending to "-aux" For example: amical - amicaux(friendly, -ie). Don't forget a few exceptions to this rule, namely:
banal – banals(banal, -s)
final – finals(final, -s)
fatal – fatals(fatal, -s)
glacial – glacials(icy, -s)
natal – natals(native)
naval - navals(marine, -ies)
bancal – bancals(curve, -s)
As you can see, there are not many rules. Just be careful. And don't forget to test yourself in practice.
Lesson assignments
Exercise 1. Change singular to plural.
1. ambitieux 2. national 3. beau 4. tableau 5. fatal 6. jeune 7. gris 8. social 9. nouveau 10. rouge
Exercise 2. Put the phrase in the plural.
1. le nouveau livre 2. la pomme jaune 3. la grosse somme 4. un homme généreux 5. un problème compliqué 6. un geste amical 7. un mot fatal 8. un beau jardin 9. une ligne droite 10. une voiture blanche
Answer 1.
1. ambitieux 2. nationaux 3. beaux 4. tableaux 5. finals 6. jeunes 7. gris 8. sociaux 9. nouveaux 10. rouges
Answer 2.
1. les nouveaux livres 2. les pommes jaunes 3. les grosses sommes 4. les hommes généreux 5. des problèmes compliqués 6. des gestes amicals 7. des mots fatals 8. des beaux jardins 9. des lignes droites 10. des voitures blanches
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 in the feminine gender 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.
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 for “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
1. The plural of adjectives in French is most often formed in the same way as for nouns, that is, by adding the ending -s.
For example:
un vase rouge - des vases rouges (red vase - red vases);
une belle table - de belles tables (beautiful table - beautiful tables);
une petite chambre - de petites chambres (small room - small rooms);
une ligne droite - des lignes droites (straight line - straight lines);
un mur bleu - des murs bleus (blue (blue) wall - blue walls).
The ending -s is not pronounced!
But in some cases, the plural of adjectives in French is formed according to different rules. They depend on which letter or combination of letters the singular adjective ends with.
2. Adjectives that end in -s or -x in the singular do not change in the plural.
For example:
un fils paresseux - des fils paresseux (lazy son - lazy sons);
un détail curieux - des détails curieux (a curious detail - curious details);
un voyage dangereux - des voyages dangereux (dangerous trip - dangerous trips);
un gros morceau - de gros morceaux (large piece - large pieces);
un vieux cahier - de vieux cahiers (old notebook - old notebooks).
But the adjective vieux in the masculine singular also has another form - vieil (used before a noun beginning with a vowel or an unpronounceable “h” (“h” muet)). In this case, the plural will be formed from vieux, for example: un vieil oncle - de vieux oncles (old uncle - old uncles).
3. Adjectives ending in -eau in the singular form take on the ending -eaux in the plural.
For example:
un beau jardin - de beaux jardins (beautiful garden - beautiful gardens);
un nouveau tableau - de nouveaux tableaux (new painting - new paintings).
But the above adjectives, which have another form in the masculine singular: bel, nouvel (used before a noun starting with a vowel or unpronounceable “h” (“h” muet)), form the plural from beau, nouveau.
For example:
un bel ami - de beaux amis (beautiful friend - beautiful friends);
un nouvel appareil - de nouveaux appareils (new apparatus - new apparatus).
It should be noted that in the feminine gender the ending -s is added to the plural adjectives belle (beautiful) and nouvelle (new): de belles places (beautiful places, squares), de nouvelles tasses (new cups).
4. Most adjectives that end in -al in the singular have an ending -aux in the plural.
For example:
un problème médical - des problèmes médicaux (medical problem - medical problems);
un pays tropical - des pays tropicaux (tropical country - tropical countries);
un festival international - des festivals internationaux (international festival - international festivals);
un principe fondamental - des principes fondamentaux (fundamental principle - fundamental principles).
But not all adjectives that end in -al in the singular end in -aux in the plural. For example, the adjectives fatal (fatal, inevitable), banal (banal), glacial (icy), natal (native), final (final, final, final) have the ending -s in the plural.
For example:
un pays natal - des pays natals (home country - home countries);
un but final - des buts finals (final goal - final goals);
un compliment banal - des compliments banals (banal compliment - banal compliments);
un vent glacial - des vents glacials (icy wind - icy winds).