GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is the Adjectives Placed Before Nouns.

C'est un grand homme.

"He is a tall man."

French people are usually quite thin, tall, and well dressed. These days, French people believe their appearance is important because they look at others and like to be looked at while people watching over a cup of coffee on a patio on a busy street. They like fashion and good cuisine.

Most of the time, French people are very courteous, but they are direct too. They are used to tell it like it is and are direct and to the point, and they can be critical. If this sometimes annoys you, you will later realize that French people are friendly and polite if you spend more time with them and get to know them better.

In the dialogue, Joe asks Giulia about her Italian boyfriend. She tells him what he looks like by describing his appearance using adjectives.

To be precise when we describe something or someone, we use adjectives. In the dialogue, Giulia describes her boyfriend physically with the adjective grand ("tall") in C'est un grand homme ("He is a tall man."). In this sentence, we place the adjective grand before the noun homme ("man") referring to the man's height in standard French.

⭐ Language Focus: Formality of Language Change of Meaning of Adjective Grand

Depending on the placement of the adjective, its meaning may change. For example, placing the adjective grand before the noun homme ("man") means "a great man" in the figurative sense, whereas in the literal sense grand means "tall" or "big." This specific meaning of "greatness" for the word grand refers to the person's accomplishments as a political figure, for example. However, in everyday French, the distinction is disappearing and is rather more differentiated in formal speech.

⭐ Adjectives Before Nouns

In French, we sometimes place adjectives before the noun and sometimes after. Today, we'll focus on the adjectives we place before the noun.

We add the most common adjectives before the nouns, such as the ones describing beauty, age, and size as well as the adjectives bon ("good"), mauvais ("bad"), and grand "tall."

Generally, the adjectives we place before the nouns fall into two groups.

🔷 Group 1 of Adjectives We Place Before the Noun: Common Adjectives

The first adjectives, those we place before the noun, are some short adjectives that are very common, such as in the dialogue with the adjective bon ("good") in un bon cuisinier ("a good cook"). Some other common ones include the following:

1. bonne

bon

"good"

2. belle

beau, bel*

"beautiful"

3. jeune

jeune

"young"

4. vieille

vieux/ vieil**

"old"

5. petite

petit

"small"

6. grande

grand

"tall"

7. grosse

gros

"big"/"fat"

* The masculine adjective bel ("beautiful") is irregular, and we use it in front of a masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h as in un bel homme ("a beautiful man").

** The adjective vieil ("old") is masculine and irregular, and we use it in front of a masculine noun starting with a vowel.

⭐ Language Note: Spelling Adjectives

When using adjectives qualifying nouns, make sure to spell them correctly by agreeing the adjective in gender and number with the noun it describes. For example, to say "a good cook" referring to a woman, you'd say une bonne cuisinière ("a good female cook"), spelling the adjective bon at the feminine form by adding the letters -ne to the masculine adjective bon ("good") because the noun cuisinière is feminine.

🔷 Group 2 of Adjectives We Place Before the Noun: Ordinal Adjectives

We also place the ordinal adjectives, such as premier/première ("first"), deuxième ("second"), and so forth before the noun.

For Example:

1. une bonne taille

"a good size"

2. une belle barbe

"a beautiful beard"

3. un jeune homme

"a young man"

4. une vieille dame

"an old lady"

5. un joli foulard

"a pretty scarf"

6. une grande natte

"a long braid"

7. une grosse valise

"a big suitcase"

8. un premier vélo

"a first bike"

9. le troisième étage

"the third floor" 

➖ Cultural Insights ➖

Opening Europe's Educational Doors

Building the European Union has created many advantages for its members, including France. Now that the borders are open, people can freely travel back and forth between the countries that are members of the European Union and work in any of them as a European citizen.

Students also have the advantage to take part in exchange programs in any nation that is part of Europe through the famous programs Socrates and Erasmus established in the late 1990s. These two programs provide for many students a first experience living and studying abroad, and they are very popular among European students. Studying abroad has become a cultural phenomenon, as the French film L'Auberge espagnole ("The Spanish Inn") portrays.

This experience is considered both a time for learning as well as a chance to socialize. Erasmus parties are known in university cities across Europe for being fun, exciting, and multilingual events.

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