GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is Adjectives We Place After the Noun.

Oui, c'est une ville agréable.

"Yes, it's a pleasant city."

Visiting French cities is an interesting experience. France's history dates back to the ancient Romans and even before, and most French cities have monuments that have witnessed the country's long history. French people are proud of their country's deep cultural and historical roots and background. You may see two thousand-year-old artifacts from the Gaulish people or a cathedral that is a couple of hundred years old. Old stones are present most everywhere all over France.

In the dialogue, an astonished Rob admires the city he is in. He comments on it by saying Oui c'est une ville agréable ("Yes, it's a nice city."). He uses the adjective agréable to portray the "nice" atmosphere and feeling of the city, which he refers to with the noun ville ("city"). Note that he places the adjective after the noun.

To describe things and people, we use adjectives.

⭐ Describing Things with Adjectives Placed after the Noun

Generally, in French, adjectives follow the noun, as we see in the dialogue with the adjectives referring to colors in the phrases les briques rouges ("red bricks") and le ciel bleu ("the blue sky"). These adjectives are descriptive adjectives.

We place most descriptive adjectives, which have analytical meanings, after the noun. In other words, these are adjectives we use for their literal meaning; therefore, they classify nouns into a certain category.

These types of adjectives include shape, color, political (such as nationality, religion, and social class), others that describe things like personality and mood, as well as adjectives we build from the present or past participle of verbs.

🔷 Color adjectives

rouge, noir, rose

"red," "black," "pink"

🔶 Adjectives of shape

rectangulaire, rond, circulaire, carré

"rectangular," "round," "circular," "square"

🔷 Taste

sucré, acide, aigre, tendre

"sweet," "acidic," "sour," "tender"

🔶 Personality

sportif, drôle, gentil

"athletic," "funny," "nice"

🔷 Adjectives of mood

excité, stressé, triste

"excited," "stressed," "sad"

🔶 Political adjectives (nationality, sexuality, political persuasion, religion...)

catholique, belge, bisexuel

"Catholic," "Belgian," "bisexual"

🔷 Participles (derived from verbs, ending in -ant or -é)

fatigant, fatigué, âgé, contaminé

"tiring," "tired", "aged," "contaminated"

For Example:

1. une fenêtre ronde "round window"

2. un pantalon noir "black pants"

3. du café sucré "sweet coffee"

4. une femme italienne "Italian woman"

5. une église catholique "Catholic church"

6. une famille bourgeoise "high middle-class family"

7. une anecdote intéressante "interesting anecdote"

8. une conversation passionnée "lively conversation"

⭐ Dialogue Focus

In the dialogue, you probably noticed we placed the adjective belle ("beautiful") before the noun in une belle ville ("a beautiful city"). We did so because it is among the short list of adjectives we place before the noun.

We place very common adjectives, which you can memorize with the acronym "BAGS," before the noun:

Adjectives Referring to:

A. Beauty

1. joli "pretty"
2. beau "beautiful"

B. Age

1. jeune "young"
2. vieux "old"

C. Good and bad

1. bon "good"
2. mauvais "bad"

D. Size

1. petit "small"
2. grand "tall" .

For example, you can hear une jolie fille ("a pretty girl") or un bon enfant ("a good child").

➖ Cultural Insights ➖

Germanic Influences in France: Strasbourg

Strasbourg, an old city in France, is located in the northeastern region of Alsace and shares its border with Germany. Its geographical location, centered in continental Europe, has shaped the city's culture, history, and heritage.

In existence for more than two thousand years, Strasbourg was a main crossroad for people migrating as early as the Stone Age, and it became a main location of settlement due to the presence of the Rhine river. It is there that the French built Strasbourg's historic center, the Grande Île ("Grand Island").

Visiting La petite France, part of the historic center, is a must as UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage site in 1988: this was the first time the organization bestowed this honor on an entire city center. This city is a unique place where the Franco-German culture co-exists. You can see this blend in the city's old architecture of half-timber housing. Although violently disputed throughout history, Strasbourg has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries due to the Germanic culture's influence. This is especially true of its University, which is currently the largest in France.

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