52. Preceding & Plural Adjectives

	Masculine			Feminine
Adjective	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
beautiful	beau (bel)	beaux		belle	belles
good	bon	bons		bonne	bonnes
dear	cher	chers		chère	chères
crazy	fou (fol)	foux		folle	folles
nice	gentil	gentils		gentille	gentilles
big	grand	grands		grande	grandes
large	gros	gros		grosse	grosses
young	jeune	jeunes		jeune	jeunes
pretty	joli	jolis		jolie	jolies
long	long	longs		longue	longues
bad	mauvais	mauvais		mauvaise	mauvaises
better, best	meilleur	meilleurs		meilleure	meilleures
soft	mou (mol)	moux		molle	molles
new	nouveau (nouvel)	nouveaux		nouvelle	nouvelles
little	petit	petits		petite	petites
old	vieux (vieil)	vieux		vieille	vieilles

 

The masculine singular and plural are pronounced the same, as are the feminine singular and plural.  These are the most common adjectives that go before the noun.  An acronym to remember which ones go before the noun is BRAGS:  Beauty, Resemblance (même and autre), Age/Order (premier and dernier), Goodness, and Size.  All other adjectives, except numbers, go after the noun.  The five words in parentheses (bel, fol, mol, nouvel, and vieil) are used before masculine singular words beginning with a vowel or a silent h.

A few adjectives can be used before or after the noun, and the meaning changes accordingly.  When used before the noun, they take a figurative meaning; and when used after, they take a literal meaning.

Before plural adjectives preceding plural nouns, you use de instead of des to mean some.  Ex:  Some old monuments.  De vieux monuments.