Adjective Placement within Sentences

Most adjectives in French follow the noun they modify, for example, la maison blanche (the white house).

A few short, descriptive adjectives, usually expressing beauty, age, goodness, and size (you can remember this with the acronym “BAGS”), generally precede the nouns they modify:

• Beauty: beau (beautiful, handsome), joli (pretty)

• Age: nouveau (new), vieux (old), jeune (young)

• Goodness (or lack of it): bon (good), gentil (nice), mauvais (bad)

• Size: grand (large, big), petit (small, little), court (short), long (long), gros (fat)

Other common adjectives that precede the noun but do not fall into the BAGS categories include the following:

• autre (other)

• chaque (each, every)

• dernier (last)

• plusieurs (several)

• quelques (a few)

• tel (such)

• tout (all, whole, every)

Consider the following examples:

• un gros livre (a thick book)

• une jolie robe (a pretty dress)

• une autre histoire (another story)

• plusieurs idées (several ideas)

• une telle aventure (such an adventure)

In addition, tout precedes both the noun and the definite article ( le, la, l', les)

• tous les homes (all the men)

• toutes les femmes (all the women)

To use more than one adjective in a description, place each adjective according to whether it precedes or follows the noun. Two adjectives in the same position are joined by et (and).

• une femme forte et athlétique (a strong, athletic woman)

• un grand et mauvais loup (a big, bad wolf)

• une petite voiture rouge (a small, red car)

Note that you may use past participles as adjectives, and they must agree with the nouns they modify:

• C'était un plaisir inattendu. (It was an unexpected pleasure.)

• Cette table est réservée. (This table is reserved.)

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