How to Make French Adjectives Feminine

In the French language, nouns must be either masculine or feminine. Adjectives also have masculine or feminine forms and an adjective that describes a noun in French must agree with the gender of the noun. Therefore you must use the masculine form of an adjective when describing a masculine noun, and similarly the feminine form of the adjective describes a feminine noun. When learning adjectives, take note of both the masculine and feminine forms, so that you can adjust the adjective to the noun that you're using.

Instructions

1. Add an "e." In many cases, it's possible to simply add an "e" to the masculine adjective to make it feminine. Examples include the adjective "petit," meaning small. A small boy would be "un petit garcon" and a small girl translates as "une petite fille."

2. Add "ne." This applies in particular to adjectives that describe nationalities. So an Italian man would translate as "un homme italien" and an Italian woman as "une femme italienne." Similarly, a Parisian man is "un homme parisien" and a Parisian woman is "une femme parisienne."

3. Change "x" to "se" if the masculine form of the adjective ends in "x." The adjective "heureux" means happy and the feminine version is "heureuse." So a happy man would be "un homme heureux" and a happy woman translates as "une femme heureuse." A variation on this rule is to change "x" to "sse." The feminine form of the adjective "faux" meaning false is "fausse."

4. Change the masculine ending "if" to "ive." In this context the masculine "actif" (meaning active) becomes "active" when used with a feminine noun. Similarly, "aggresif" becomes "aggressive." An aggressive man is "un homme aggresif" while an aggressive woman is "une femme aggressive."

5. Change the masculine ending "el" to "elle." For example, the adjective "sensationnel," meaning fantastic, becomes "sensationnelle" when used with a feminine noun.

6. Change the masculine ending "c" to "che." The adjective "blanc" means white and its feminine form is "blanche." As an example, a white truck is "un camion blanc" and a white car is "une voiture blanche."

7. Don't change the adjective at all. A few French adjectives take the same form in both masculine and feminine versions, for example the adjective "rouge," meaning red. A red truck is therefore "un camion rouge" and a white car is "une voiture rouge."

8. If in doubt, look up a French dictionary to check the correct masculine and feminine forms of adjectives.

Tips & Warnings

• 1. Don't stress about using the correct form of the adjective -- even if you use the masculine version, the French will understand your meaning.

• 2. Carry a small dictionary if you want to make sure that you're using the correct version.

References

• LanguageGuide.org; French: Adjectives
• FrenchLinguistics.co.uk: The Form of French Adjectives
• French Grammar and Usage; Roger Hawkins and Richard Towell; 2010
• Larousse Concise French-English/English-French Dictionary: Editors of Larousse: 2010