Module 7 of 10
Adjectives that agree
The ending you cannot hear, and the one that wakes a silent letter.
An adjective in French dresses to match the noun: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for both. Sometimes you hear the change and sometimes you do not, and the difference is the consonant at the end. Bleu and bleue sound identical. Grand and grande do not, because the -e wakes up the d that was silent. Petit and petite, français and française, the same thing. So the written ending is never optional even when your ear says it made no difference — and when it does make a difference, leaving it off is heard immediately.
Position is the other half. Most French adjectives come after the noun — une voiture rouge, un film français — which is the reverse of English and the thing most beginners forget under pressure. A small, well-used group goes before: grand, petit, bon, mauvais, jeune, vieux, beau, joli. Learn those eight as the exceptions and put everything else after. Describing people is the fastest way to drill this, because you already have the vocabulary from modules two and three.
Played by your device’s own French voice. It is a synthetic voice, not a recording of a teacher — close enough to learn the shape of a word, not close enough to copy exactly.
- Il est grandHe is tall
- Elle est grandeShe is tall — the -e makes the d audible
- Il est petitHe is short, or small
- Elle est petiteShe is short, or small
- Elle est gentilleShe is kind
- Ils sont gentilsThey are kind
- Un livre bleuA blue book — the colour comes after the thing
- Une grande maisonA big house — a few short adjectives come before
Write the agreement even when you cannot hear it. Most adjectives follow the noun; a small group of short, common ones goes in front.