Un 2.3
Qualitative Adjectives
Adjectives are used to describe or offer more information about a noun or noun group. There are many types of adjectives that offer many functions in the French sentence. Here, we will look at qualitative adjectives.
Qualitative Adjectives – Adjectifs qualitatifs
As the name suggests, qualitative adjectives give more information about the qualities of a noun.
e.g.
|
an important course |
Unlike in English, where most adjectives have the same form in all contexts, French adjectives often change in form and placement. Focusing on three aspects of French adjectives can ensure their correct grammatical usage:
1) grammatical gender (of the noun)
Is the noun’s grammatical gender masculine or feminine?
2) grammatical number (of the noun)
Is the noun in the singular or the plural?
3) placement (of the adjective)
Is this adjective normally used before or after nouns?
e.g.
|
un cours important |
1) this noun is masculine (‘un cours’) 2) this noun is in the singular (‘un cours’) 3) this adjective is normally used after nouns (‘important’) |
Building Qualitative Adjectives – Les formes des adjectifs qualitatifs
Most French adjectives change form to reflect the grammatical gender and/or the grammatical number of their noun. In dictionaries, the masculine singular form of adjectives is traditionally the first one that is listed, with other forms, particularly irregular forms, indicated afterwards. The majority of adjectives follow the pattern of adding an ‘e’ to the end to indicate the feminine grammatical gender and/or an ‘s’ to indicate plural.
e.g.
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
Masculine |
un étudiant intelligent |
des étudiants intelligents |
|
Feminine |
une étudiante intelligente |
des étudiantes intelligentes |
Different forms of the same adjective may have slightly different pronunciations, due to these changes in endings.
e.g.
|
intelligent /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃/ |
intelligents /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃/ |
|
intelligente /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃t/ |
intelligentes /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃t/ |
Some adjectives forms follow other patterns.
e.g.
|
un acteur favori |
des acteurs favoris |
|
une actrice favorite |
des actrices favorites |
Many of these patterns can be guessed from the adjective’s masculine singular ending.
e.g.
|
un homme courageux |
des homes courageux |
|
une femme courageuse |
des femmes courageuses |
Some adjectives do not have different forms reflecting grammatical gender. This is often due to the ending of the masculine singular form, typically an ‘e’.
e.g.
|
un pupitre confortable |
des pupitres confortables |
|
une chaise confortable |
des chaises confortables |
This can also be due to the adjective’s history. Adjectives that were originally nouns, or are normally nouns but are being used as adjectives, do not decline (i.e. they do not change for grammatical gender and grammatical number).
e.g.
|
des yeux bleus (m. pl.) des feuilles vertes (f. pl.) |
blue eyes green leaves (‘bleu’ and ‘vert’ decline, like most adjectives) |
|
des yeux marron (m. pl.) des feuilles orange (f. pl.) |
brown eyes orange leaves (‘marron’ and ‘orange’ are originally nouns, translating to the nut ‘chestnut’ and fruit ‘orange’) |
BANGRS
Once grammatical gender and grammatical number have been considered, the placement of an adjective must also be accounted for. The mnemonic ‘BANGRS’ can make this process somewhat easier.
|
Beauty |
beau, joli |
|
Age |
jeune, vieux, nouveau |
|
Number |
plusieurs, certains, quelques |
|
Goodness |
bon, mauvais, cher |
|
Ranking |
premier, deuxième |
|
Size |
grand, petit |
Typically, adjectives that fit into one of the categories of ‘BANGRS’ are placed in front of their noun. These adjectives still change for their noun’s grammatical gender and grammatical number.
e.g.
|
C’est un grand bureau. |
It’s a big office. |
|
C’est une grande table. |
It’s a big table. |
A very small number of these adjectives have special forms when placed in front of a noun that begins with a vowel or an unaspirated ‘h’. This special form is used for the masculine singular.
e.g.
|
un beau garçon un bel homme |
a handsome boy a handsome man |
|
une belle femme une belle école |
a beautiful woman a beautiful school |
This list of adjectives is extremely small.
e.g.
|
un vieux policier un vieil homme |
an old police officer an old man |
|
un nouveau pompier un nouvel homme |
a new firefighter a new man |
Another small group of adjectives can be placed either before or after the noun.
e.g.
|
une incroyable idée |
an incredible idea |
|
une idée incroyable |
an incredible idea |
For a small group of these adjectives, however, the location of the adjective results in a change in meaning.
e.g.
|
un cher ami une chère amie |
a dear friend (m.) a dear friend (f.) |
|
un livre cher une fenêtre chère |
an expensive book an expensive window |
When used with an adjective that goes in front of a noun, the indefinite plural article ‘des’ becomes ‘de’. This does not happen with the definite plural article ‘les’.
e.g.
|
Il y a de bonnes idées ? |
Are there (any) good ideas? |
|
Voici les bonnes réponses. |
Here are the correct answers. |
