French nouns and adjectives must agree in number and gender. The feminine of an adjective is normally formed by adding an –e. When an adjective already ends in –e it normally does not change for the feminine. The plural is most often formed by adding an –s to a masculine or feminine singular form, but is usually not pronounced.
 

Many adjectives do not follow the rule of thumb for forming the feminine. Here is a brief list of other common ways to form the feminine:

Adjectives ending in –x are changed to –se:
 

Adjectives ending in –ien are changed to –ienne:
 

Adjectives ending in –er are changed to –ère; those ending in –et are (often) changed to –ète.
 

Most adjectives follow the nouns they modify in French. There is, however, an exception in the Action section of chapter 4 of the program: petit(e) ("small") in the phrase la petite valise ("the small suitcase").

Certain adjectives always go in front of their noun. Here’s a list of the most used adjectives that have this irregular word order:
 

Of these, a certain number have a somewhat irregular form in the feminine and plural, such as:
 

*before vowel
 

Adjectives with highly irregular feminine and/or plural forms will be identified in the vocabulary notes of the program. Colors are introduced in the Basics section of the program. Of the following colors all but "white" have the same form in the masculine and the feminine.
 

Examples of Adjectives

• "Elles sont à vous, les valises?"
• "Oui, monsieur. La petite valise blanche et la valise noire."
• O là là, quel grand téléviseur!
• Est-ce qu'il y a un bon restaurant près d'ici?