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The Agreement of Adjectives. Higher French. In French…. All adjectives change their form to suit the noun they describe… The adjective is said to agree with the noun it accompanies… The change takes two forms… Gender – masculine / feminine Number – singular / plural
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The Agreement of Adjectives Higher French
In French… • All adjectives change their form to suit the noun they describe… • The adjective is said to agree with the noun it accompanies… • The change takes two forms… • Gender – masculine / feminine • Number – singular / plural • This concept does not exist inEnglish
Adjectives change form… • The first way the form is changed is in the spelling • The second way the form is changed is in the sound • Implications for writing… • Implications for speaking…
Adjective agrees… • The noun has a gender • The noun has a number • The accompanying adjective adopts the same gender • The accompanying adjective adopts the same number • Noun & Adjective agree..
The change takes 2 forms… • Gender • There are only two genders in French… • Masculine or le persons/things • Feminine or la persons/things • Number • There are two numbers in French… • Singular and Plural
That’s the Theory… Let’s look at the practice…
Regular Adjectives • There are certain rules or patterns which can be relied upon • Let’s look at these in detail…
Six Regular Patterns Pattern One grand grande grands grandes Pattern Two fatigué fatiguée fatigués fatiguées Pattern Three jaune jaune jaunes jaunes Pattern Four cher chère chers chères Pattern Five affreux affreuse affreux affreuses Pattern Six gentil gentille gentils gentilles
Irregular Adjectives • Many common adjectives are irregular • Each one has to be learnt separately • Let’s look at some of the most common ones…
The Position of Adjectives • Many think that the position of the adjective in French is just like English…before the noun… • This is understandable as the first adjectives you meet precede the noun… • The Rule in fact is that in French adjectives normally follow the noun…
Adjectives preceding… • Beau • Bon • Court • Excellent • Gentil • Grand • Gros • Haut • Jeune • Joli • Long • Mauvais • Petit • Vieux
Summary • All adjectives in French have Four forms • Two Genders – Two Numbers • The Noun determines what the gender and number will be… • As English speakers we have to constantly remind ourselves of the importance of Gender & Number… • Focus on Adjectives…