Endings of regular and irregular French adjectives

Regular forms of French adjectives

Every adjective has to agree in number and gender with the noun it modifies. To make an adjective agree with the noun or pronoun it describes, you simply add the following endings in most cases:

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Keep in mind

With most adjectives you add an -e to the masculine singular form to make it feminine.

un sac lourd (a heavy bag) → une valise lourde (a heavy suitcase)

If the adjective already ends in an -e in the masculine form, you do not add another -e.

un sac jaune (a yellow bag) → une chemise jaune (a yellow shirt)

List of adjective endings

Please note that if a masculine adjective ends in a vowel its pronunciation does not change when an -e is added to form the feminine.

Irregular forms of French adjectives

Some very common adjectives are completely irregular in the feminine form:

The adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux, fou, mou

The adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux, fou and mou have three unique forms. They have a special masculine singular form before words beginning with a vowel or silent h.

Examples

• un bel appartement (a beautiful flat)
• le Nouvel An (New Year)
• un vieil arbre (an old tree) 

Plural of adjectives

Regular forms

With most adjectives you add an -s to the masculine singular or feminine singular form to form the plural.

When an adjective describes a masculine and a feminine noun or pronoun, use the masculine plural form of the adjective.

Adjectives ending in -s or -x

Adjectives ending in -s or -x are the same in the masculine singular and plural forms. The feminine plural stays regular.

Adjectives ending in -eu or -eau

Adjectives ending in -eu or -eau add -x to build the masculine form of the plural. The feminine plural stays regular.

Please note that there is an exception when it comes to the word bleu. In the plural it's transformed to bleus.

Adjectives ending in -al

Adjectives ending in -al change to -aux to form the masculine plural. The feminine plural stays regular.

Please note that there are exceptions when it comes to the words banal, fatal, final, natal and naval. You have to add an -s to form the plural form of these words.

Invariable adjectives

A small number of adjectives (mostly relating to colours) do not change in the feminine or plural. They are called invariable adjectives because their form NEVER changes, no matter what they are describing.

These adjectives are often made up of more than one word - for example, bleu marine (navy blue), or come from the names of fruit or nuts.

List of invariable adjectives