D’Accord 1 Leçon 3A.1 Descriptive adjectives (irregular adjectives, adjective placement-BAGS, and physical description.)

Adjectives change spelling (and sound sometimes) depending on who or what you are describing. Observe how the spellings change for regular adjectives…

Je suis branché. Je suis branchée. Je suis = I am

Je suis charmant. Je suis charmante.

Je suis poli. Je suis polie.

Je suis intelligent. Je suis intelligente.

Some adjectives may not change spelling.

Je suis modeste. Je suis modeste.

Je suis drôle. Je suis drôle.

Some adjectives have endings that change a little more than others. Look at the following examples…

Je suis curieux. Je suis curieuse.

Je suis généreux. Je suis généreuse.

Je suis gentil. Je suis gentille.

Some adjectives have completely different masculine and feminine versions….

Je suis beau. Je suis belle. beau = handsome belle = pretty

être – to be je suis nous sommes tu es vous êtes il est ils sont elle est elles sont

être – to be je suis I am tu es you are il est he is elle est she is je ne suis pas – I am not il n‘est pas – he is not

The forms of the adjective nouveau (new) follow the same pattern as those of beau. Other adjectives that follow the pattern of heureux are curieux (curious), malheureux (unhappy), nerveux (nervous), and sérieux (serious).

Position of adjectives These adjectives are usually placed before the noun they modify: beau, bon, grand, gros, jeune, joli, long, nouveau, petit, and vieux. These forms are used before masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel sound.

BAGS Voici une voiture française. Voici une petite voiture. Voici une petite voiture française. Paul est un garçon intelligent. Paul est un beau garçon. Paul est un beau garçon intelligent. Beauty beau, joli Age vieux, nouveau, jeune Goodness bon, mauvais Size grand, petit, gros, long

Position of adjectives (continued) These adjectives are also generally placed before a noun: mauvais(e) (bad), pauvre (poor, unfortunate), vrai(e) (true, real). The plural indefinite article des changes to de before an adjective followed by a noun.

Point de départ As you learned in Leçon 1B, adjectives describe people, places, and things. In French, most adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns or pronouns they modify.

You’ve already learned several adjectives of nationality and some adjectives to describe your classes. Here are some adjectives used to describe physical characteristics.

Use the expression de taille moyenne to describe someone or something of medium size.

Notice that, in the examples below, the adjectives agree in gender and number with the subjects.

The adjective marron is invariable; that is, it does not agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. The adjective châtain is almost exclusively used to describe hair color.