Matching game
French adjective pairs: gentil, gentille and other changed endings
Match eight masculine and feminine French portrait pairs. Notice changed endings in gentil/gentille, sportif/sportive, sérieux/sérieuse and bon/bonne.
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In short
Some feminine adjective forms change more than a final e: gentil → gentille, sportif → sportive, sérieux → sérieuse, bon → bonne. Match the complete masculine and feminine portrait phrases below. Learn the changed spelling with the adjective rather than assuming one universal letter rule.
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The eight pairs describe people in explicitly masculine and feminine noun phrases. The task focuses on a small set of spelling changes, not every adjective rule. The noun may also change, as in voisin/voisine, while collègue has the same spelling with un and une.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
| Masculine | Feminine | Notice |
|---|---|---|
| Gentil | Gentille | The feminine has -ille. |
| Sportif / actif | Sportive / active | -f changes to -ve. |
| Sérieux / généreux | Sérieuse / généreuse | -eux changes to -euse in these adjectives. |
| Bon | Bonne | The feminine doubles n. |
| Nouveau | Nouvelle | The feminine form is nouvelle. |
Use the noun and article as the gender cue
Un voisin selects the masculine gentil; une voisine selects the feminine gentille. Une collègue sportive uses a feminine article even though collègue looks the same as in un collègue sportif. Read the complete phrase before choosing the adjective ending.
Mon voisin est gentil. Ma voisine est gentille.
My male neighbour is kind. My female neighbour is kind.
Keep the familiar form beside the changed form
Sérieux becomes sérieuse, and généreux becomes généreuse. The two adjectives share the same changed ending in this set. Heureux likewise gives heureuse. Nouveau/nouvelle needs its own stored pair rather than an attempted nouveaue. Recalling the pair is more useful than inventing a spelling from a rough sound.
C’est une nouvelle collègue très sérieuse.
She is a very conscientious new colleague.
For your own portrait, practise the adjective with the complete phrase: un voisin généreux, then une voisine généreuse. Change the article and noun as needed, and check the adjective against its paired form.