Feminine Adjectives in French

Quick Answer

An adjective is a word that is used to describe a noun. For example: une table bleue(a blue table).

In French, adjectives agree in gender and in number with the noun they describe. In une table bleue, bleue is the feminine form of the adjective because table is feminine in French.

In this article, you'll learn how to form feminine adjectives in French! C'est parti !(Let's get started!)

Questions This Article Answers

Do adjectives come before or after the noun in French?

How should I use adjectives in French?

How do you form feminine adjectives in French?

Adjective Placement

In French, adjectives are typically used after the noun. Let's take a look at adjective placement in French!

The Placement of Adjectives in French

French	English
la voiture rouge	the red car
un chien intelligent	an intelligent dog
les étudiants italiens	the Italian students

Exception: Some French adjectives come before the noun, just like in English! They are called prenominal adjectives. For example: un petit garçon(a little boy).

Learn which adjectives come before the noun in French in the following article:

Adjectives That Come Before Nouns in French

Adjective Agreement

In French, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender and in number. This means that if the noun an adjective describes is feminine, the adjective must be feminine. If that same noun is also plural, the adjective will be feminine AND plural!

For example, les jupes(the skirts) is feminine and plural, so any adjective used to describe it must also be feminine and plural. Take a look at the adjective agreement in French in the table below!

Adjective Agreement in French

French	English
les jupes noires	the black skirts
les jupes chères	the expensive skirts
les jupes rayées	the striped skirts

Rules for Feminine Agreement

There are different rules for making an adjective feminine in French. Which rule you use often depends on the characteristics of the adjective itself. For example, for adjectives ending in -f, the feminine will end in -ve. Let's take a look at the rules for feminine adjective agreement in French!

Rule 1. The Main Rule: Add an -E

To make an adjective feminine, you generally have to add an -e to the masculine form. It can be a very straightforward process. Let's take a look at some examples in the table below!

How to Make Adjectives Feminine in French

Masculine	Feminine	English
vert	verte	green
intelligent	intelligente	intelligent
français	française	French

examples
L'homme est intelligent. The man is intelligent.
La femme est intelligente. The woman is intelligent.
Le passeport est vert. The passport is green.
La chaise est verte. The chair is green.

Some adjectives that end in -et and in -er also require an accent grave(grave accent) on the penultimate -e- in the feminine form.

Adjectives That End in -ET and -ER in French

Masculine	Feminine	English
complet	complète	complete
secret	secrète	secret
léger	légère	light

Rule 2. Double the Last Consonant and Add an -E

To make some masculine adjectives feminine in French, you need to double the final consonant before you add an -e. It's usually not possible to predict whether an adjective will follow Rule #1 or Rule #2. You need to do your best to remember which adjectives double the final consonant in the feminine form and which ones don't. Check out the table below for a few examples of adjectives that follow Rule #2.

Feminine Adjectives That Double the Last Consonant in French

Masculine	Feminine	English
ancien	ancienne	former
bon	bonne	good
gros	grosse	big, large
muet	muette	silent, mute

examples
L'ordinateur est trop gros. The computer is too big.
La valise est trop grosse. The suitcase is too big.

Rule 3. Don't Change Anything

In French, there are adjectives that already end with an -e in the masculine form. For masculine adjectives that end in -e, do not add an extra -e to make the adjective feminine. The masculine and the feminine forms are identical. Let's take a look at some of these adjectives.

French Adjectives That End in -E

Masculine	Feminine	English
aimable	aimable	friendly
dramatique	dramatique	dramatic
immense	immense	huge

examples
Le docteur était très aimable. Sa fille aussi était aimable ! The doctor was friendly. His daughter was friendly too!
Le jardin de Léa est immense. Sa maison aussi est immense ! Léa's yard is huge. Her house is huge too!

Exception: This rule does not apply if the final -e of the masculine form carries an accent, as in stressé(stressed). In that case, you must add an -e to the masculine form to make the adjective feminine: stressé/stressée.

Rule 4. The Final Consonant or Syllable Changes

In some cases, you have to change the last consonant or last syllable in a masculine adjective to make the feminine form. Luckily, there are some patterns you can memorize to help you out! Some of the most common patterns are shown in the table below.

Spelling Changes in Feminine Adjectives in French

Change	Masculine	Feminine	English
f → ve	sportif	sportive	athletic
eux → euse	heureux	heureuse	happy
c → que	public	publique	public
c → che	blanc	blanche	white
eur → euse	charmeur	charmeuse	charming
teur → trice	destructeur	destructrice	destructive

Rule 5. The Adjective Changes Quite a Bit

The masculine and feminine forms of adjectives like those in the table below differ by more than just a letter or two. For these adjectives, your best bet is to just memorize the feminine forms! Let’s take a look at some examples.

Major Spelling Changes in Feminine Adjectives in French

Masculine	Feminine	English
beau	belle	beautiful
fou	folle	crazy
frais	fraîche	fresh
sec	sèche	dry
vieux	vieille	old

Rule 6. Special Color Adjectives

Sometimes adjectives describe the color of something. If the name of the color comes from the thing that is known for this color, then the adjective never changes. It stays in the masculine singular form, even if the noun is feminine and/or plural.