Position of adjectives in French

French lesson 12 of grammar: position of adjectives in French

Position of adjectives in French


Knowing the position of adjectives in French is really very important. Indeed, in French, adjectives are widely used. So knowing how to place adjectives is essential. At the beginner level (A1 level), this is one of the first things to learn and master. The video below will teach you how to correctly place adjectives in French:


Adjectives after the noun
(noun + adjective)

Most often, adjectives are placed after the noun (noun + adjective):

1) For a nationality: “une amie vietnamienne” (amie is the noun and vietnamienne is the adjective).

2) For a color: “un pantalon noir” (pantalon is the noun and noir is the adjective).

3) For a taste: “une crêpe sucrée” (crêpe is the noun and sucrée is the adjective).

4) For a form: “une table ronde” (table is the noun and ronde is the adjective).

5) For long adjectives, i.e. adjectives of more than 3 syllables: “un homme extraordinaire” (homme is the noun and extraordinaire is the adjective).

6) For 2 adjectives: “un homme grand et maigre” (homme is the noun and grand et maigre are the adjectives).

Adjectives before the noun
(adjective + noun)

Sometimes adjectives are placed before the noun (adjective + noun):

1) Short descriptive adjectives like petit, grand, bon, mauvais, jeune, vieux, joli, beau, gentil, méchant, etc. Examples: un grand homme (grand is the adjective and homme is the noun), une belle femme (belle is the adjective and femme is the noun), un bon chien (bon is the adjective and chien is the noun), une vieille maison (vieille is the adjective and maison is the noun).

2) Numeral adjectives like premier (1er), deuxième (2ème), troisième (3ème), etc. Examples: le deuxième étage (deuxième is the adjective and étage is the noun), le premier livre (premier is the adjective and livre is the noun).

 deepen this grammar lesson on the position of adjectives in French, you can study the French course: learn to describe an object.


Once you have correctly mastered this grammar lesson on the position of adjectives in French, you can move on to the next grammar lesson:


French grammar lesson 13: French demonstrative adjectives


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