J'ai un petit chat noir et une petite maison blanche. Mes amis sont intelligents et gentils. C'est une belle ville avec de vieux bâtiments et de bons restaurants.
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GrammarA1adjectivesagreement
Adjective agreement & placement
L'accord et la place des adjectifs
A1fr26 min
What you'll learn
- Make adjectives agree
- Place adjectives correctly
- Handle common irregular adjectives
Tips for this lesson
- Default: adjective + e (feminine), adjective + s (plural).
- Most adjectives go AFTER the noun — only a small group (BAGS) goes before.
- Adding -e can make a silent consonant audible: petit → petite.
Step 1 of 6
1Reading
In context
Read. Notice adjectives change their ending to match the noun, and most come AFTER the noun.
Step 2 of 6
2The pattern
The pattern — agreement and word order
Adjectives change to match the noun's gender and number, and most sit after the noun.
In French, adjectives agree with the noun they describe: they change their ending for gender and number, just like a verb changes for its subject. The default pattern is simple: add -e for feminine, add -s for plural (and -es for feminine plural). Word order is the second surprise: unlike English, most French adjectives go after the noun ("un chat noir", not "a black cat" word-for-word). Only a small, high-frequency group goes before — remember it with BAGS: Beauty (beau, joli), Age (jeune, vieux, nouveau), Goodness/number (bon, mauvais, grand, petit — think Size too), and general Size.
| Masc. sing. | Fem. sing. | Masc. pl. | Fem. pl. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| grand (tall/big) | grand | grande | grands | grandes |
| petit (small) | petit | petite | petits | petites |
| rouge (already -e) | rouge | rouge | rouges | rouges |
| Irregular pattern | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| beau (beautiful) | beau | belle |
| vieux (old) | vieux | vieille |
| blanc (white) | blanc | blanche |
| bon (good) | bon | bonne |
une maison blanche
a white house
Feminine noun → adjective takes -e.
des chats noirs
black cats
Plural noun → adjective takes -s.
un petit chat, une petite chatte
a small cat (m./f.)
The added -e makes the final t audible: petit /pəti/ → petite /pətit/.
une belle ville
a beautiful city
belle (BAGS: Beauty) goes before the noun.
Erreurs fréquentes
- une maison blancune maison blanche
English adjectives don't change — French ones do. Always check the noun's gender.
- un noir chatun chat noir
Default placement is AFTER the noun — English order doesn't transfer.
- des chat noirsdes chats noirs
Don't forget to pluralise the noun too, not just the adjective.
Exceptions & à retenir
beau, nouveau, vieux have a special form before a vowel
Before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or mute h, use bel/nouvel/vieil for euphony: un bel homme, un nouvel ami, un vieil arbre — not un beau homme.
Some BAGS adjectives can change meaning by position
un homme grand (a tall man, size) vs un grand homme (a great man, importance) — a few adjectives shift meaning depending on whether they come before or after.
Doubling consonant before -e
Some adjectives double the final consonant in the feminine: bon → bonne, gentil → gentille, gros → grosse. There's no single rule — learn these as you meet them.
Astuces & mémo
- Chant BAGS with example words: Beau, Age (jeune/vieux/nouveau), Grand/Gros/bon/mauvais (Goodness+size), Small (petit) — all go BEFORE the noun. Everything else goes after.
- When you add -e to an adjective ending in a silent consonant, say the consonant out loud in the feminine form: petit → petite, grand → grande.
- If the adjective already ends in -e (rouge, jeune, calme), the masculine and feminine forms are identical — only the plural -s changes.
Step 3 of 6
3Q&A drill
Match the feminine form
Match each masculine adjective to its feminine form.
- Q1petitA____________
- Q2grandA____________
- Q3blancA____________
- Q4beauA____________
- Q5vieuxA____________
- Q6bonA____________
Step 4 of 6
4Fill the blanks
Guided practice — agree the adjective
Write the adjective with the correct agreement.
Example
une maison (1) (blanc)
→ une maison blanche
Exercice
des chats (1) (noir)
Exercice
une (2) (petit) table
Exercice
de (3) (bon) amis
Exercice
une (4) (beau) ville
Answer pool — drag onto a blank (or tap to fill the next one)
Next empty blank: 1
Step 5 of 6
5Word order
Build the sentence
Put the words in the correct order — watch adjective placement.
Example
chatnoirj'aiun→J'ai un chat noir.
- Sentence 1Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 2Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 3Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 4Tap the words below to build the sentence.
Step 6 of 6
6Speak freely
Produce it
Describe three people and three objects, using at least one BAGS adjective and one colour.
Ex.J'ai un petit chien noir et une belle maison blanche. Mon ami est grand et intelligent.
- 1.Décrivez trois objets autour de vous (couleur + un adjectif BAGS).
- 2.Décrivez trois personnes que vous connaissez.
- 3.Quelle est la différence entre 'un homme grand' et 'un grand homme' ?