In French, the main rule regarding the position of adjectives is that they usually come AFTER the noun, [see Adjectives usually go AFTER nouns (adjective position)], but as always in French, there are exceptions!
Here is a list of short and very common adjectives that go BEFORE the noun:
| Masculine and feminine forms | English |
| bon / bonne |
good |
| mauvais / mauvaise |
bad |
| beau / belle |
beautiful, handsome |
| joli / jolie |
pretty |
| vilain / vilaine |
ugly, nasty/naughty |
| jeune |
young |
| vieux / vieille |
old |
| grand / grande |
big, tall |
| petit / petite |
small, little |
| gros / grosse |
big, fat |
| faux / fausse |
false |
| bref / brève |
brief, short |
| long / longue |
long |
| haut / haute |
high |
| vaste |
vast |
| nouveau / nouvelle |
new |
Here are some examples with these adjectives:
ATTENTION:
As stated in Adjectives usually go AFTER nouns (adjective position), these adjectives will be AFTER the noun if :
- used with a long adverb (2 or more syllables) :
- followed by a "complementary" group introduced by a preposition (à, de, pour, comme,...):
These are not the only exceptions placed BEFORE the noun they refer to - see the more advanced lesson: Other adjectives that go BEFORE nouns
See also how beau, vieux and nouveau are different: Beau, nouveau, vieux, fou, mou have two masculine forms and one feminine form and Beau, nouveau, vieux have different plural forms for masculine and feminine (adjectives)
See also Adjectives usually go AFTER nouns (adjective position)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
"French Grammar: Adjective Positions" by Transparent French
une brève réunion
a brief meeting
Sur le long chemin,
Tout blanc de neige blanche,
Un vieux monsieur s'avance,
On the long path,
All white with white snow,
An old man advances,
un vaste territoire
a vast land
une bonne voiture, mais une voiture bonne pour la casse
a good car, but a car only good for scrap
un bon vin, mais un vin extrêmement bon
a good wine, but an extremely good wine
une haute barrière
a high fence
beau/belle (beautiful)
la belle fille
the beautiful girl
bon/bonne (good)
grand/grande (big)
nouveau/nouvelle (new)
la nouvelle voiture
the new car
petit/petite (small)
vieux/vieille (old)
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
24/02/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
11/01/18
A "chaise-longue" would be a "long-chair" whereas a "longue chaise" would be a "long chair".
Greetings, -- Chris.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
5/09/18
Hi Alison,
That's a very good point but 'chaise longue' refers to a particular type of chair (between a chair and a bed) and is taken as meaning this particular item.
Normally long/longue would precede the noun as in:
C'était un long discours = It was a long speech
C'était un ami de longue date = It/He was a long standing friend
If you look at Steven's contribution at the end of the lesson, He suggests a useful acronym to remember the adjectives that normally come before the noun.
Hope this helps!
Ron
Kwiziq community member
19/11/17
There is a «grammar rule» that says for adjectives that are longer words, they can be placed before the word without changing the sense of the adjective; however, I don't find a lesson that addresses this issue. I also have not heard it defined about having 2 or more syllables, but that quantification certainly fits. There is; however, a mention about other adjectives that precede the noun:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/my-languages/french/view/2989
Bonne chance.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
19/11/17
I agree with you, and have now updated the lesson accordingly :)
Bonne journée !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
13/03/17
Thank you for this question: the term "complement" is indeed a bit vague here!
What we meant here was "a complementary group introduced by a preposition (à, pour, comme, ...)".
I've now updated the lesson accordingly.
Merci et à bientôt !
Cameron
Kwiziq community member
15 December 2016
3 replies
I don't have a Kwiz on this subject. Why is that?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
16/12/16
Could you be more specific as to what your issue is here?
Are you talking about the microKwizzes not appearing on the page?
Please let me know and I'd be happy to help!
Cameron
Kwiziq community member
16/12/16
Andre
Kwiziq community member
29/12/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
8/09/16
Thanks for letting us know, we've decided to remove that not-so-great video from this lesson.
Merci et à bientôt !
sue
Kwiziq community member
10/09/16
I think your site is fantastic, but is let down by some of the video quality
on the following lesson it had içi for ici, is this a spelling error or an alternative spelling?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/09/16
You are correct as for the use of "grand" with "homme" or "femme", but this disctinction doesn't apply to objects or animals, for which you will always place "grand" before to indicate a physical characteristic:
un grand ours
une grande chaise
I hope that's helpful!
sue
Kwiziq community member
10/09/16
again a great answer
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
8/09/16
This lesson at an earlier level gives you the main rule for positions of adjectives in French, but of course (and as always with French!), there are further subtleties.
Generally speaking, a lot of adjectives can be used either before or after the noun and here the nuance: "after" adjectives' meaning is more literal, objective or based on neutral observation (un prof jeune is a statement on his age) whereas "before" adjectives take on more of a subjective, figurative or based on opinion meaning (un jeune prof can be as much about an evaluation of his age as of his inexperience).
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
sue
Kwiziq community member
10/09/16
Joakim
Kwiziq community member
8 September 2016
1 reply
Placement of "long"
"long" is listed here and elsewhere as an adjective that goes before the noun, so how come there are approximately the same number of hits on google for "longs cheveux" and "cheveux longs" (including quotation marks to preserve order) ?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/09/16
This lesson at an earlier level gives you the main rule for positions of adjectives in French, but of course (and as always with French!), there are further subtleties.
Generally speaking, a lot of adjectives can be used either before or after the noun and here the nuance: "after" adjectives' meaning is more literal, objective or based on neutral observation ("des cheveux longs" is a basic statement on a physical characteristic) whereas "before" adjectives take on more of a subjective, figurative or based on opinion meaning ("de longs cheveux" contains already a positive (or negative) appreciation, and personal opinion).
Obviously, in that specific case, these nuances are very subtle ;)
I hope that's helpful!
steven
Kwiziq community member
8 April 2018
2 replies
A useful acronym
An acronym that I like to use is BANGS, which stands for beauty, age, numbers, good/bad, and size.
Adjective relating to these categories usually come before the noun. If you compare this to the list of adjective in the lesson above, you'll see a lot of them fit.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
9 April 2018
9/04/18
Hi Steven, that's a great idea. Gives you a good handle on adjective placement.
-- Chris.
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
14 April 2018
14/04/18