Verb drill
French adjective agreement: practise the four forms
Make French adjectives agree with their nouns. Compare petit, petite, petits and petites, learn frequent irregulars and try eight checked descriptions.
- A1
- 8 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
A French adjective agrees with the noun it describes. The usual pattern adds -e for feminine and -s for plural: petit, petite, petits, petites. The noun controls the ending, including after être: Les valises sont lourdes.
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| Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| petit | petite | petits | petites |
| lourd | lourde | lourds | lourdes |
| rouge | rouge | rouges | rouges |
| sportif | sportive | sportifs | sportives |
| sérieux | sérieuse | sérieux | sérieuses |
| beau | belle | beaux | belles |
How do French adjective endings change?
A noun and its adjective
Find:
Sac is masculine; valise is feminine. With lourd, the feminine adds -e. With rouge, the final -e is already there. The plural adds -s to both. You can see the endings even when you cannot hear them.
What are the traps in French adjective agreement?
Mon amie est gentille.
My friend is kind.
Amie is feminine. Mon is used before its vowel, so the adjective still takes the feminine form gentille. The possessive identifies the relationship; the noun gives you the adjective’s gender.
Les portes sont blanches.
The doors are white.
Some feminine forms need more than an extra -e: blanc → blanche, gentil → gentille, beau → belle. Add the plural ending to that feminine form when the noun is feminine plural. The person speaking has no effect on the ending.
Eight endings to supply
The hint gives the masculine singular adjective. Type the complete form that fits the noun. Watch for adjectives that already end in -e or -s.
1 · Things: identify gender and number
- La valise est . (lourd)
- Les sacs sont . (lourd)
- Les portes sont . (blanc)
- Les chaises sont . (rouge)
2 · People and irregular forms
- Mon amie est . (gentil)
- Mes sœurs sont . (sportif)
- Ces étudiants sont . (sérieux)
- Ces fleurs sont . (beau)