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Where to place adjectives in French sentences visualisation

Where to place adjectives in French sentences

Demystifying French Sentence Structure: A Pathway to Mastery: Where to place adjectives in French sentences
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In French sentences, adjectives are generally placed after the noun they describe. However, there are important exceptions where adjectives come before the noun.

General Rules for Adjective Placement

  • Most adjectives go after the noun. For example, “le lac gelé” (the frozen lake) or “une jupe bleue” (a blue skirt). 1, 3, 4
  • Colors and adjectives derived from proper nouns typically follow the noun. 3, 1
  • When two or more adjectives are connected by conjunctions such as “et” (and), “ou” (or), “mais” (but), they are placed after the noun. 1

Adjectives That Come Before the Noun

Certain common short adjectives describing beauty, age, goodness, and size usually precede the noun. These include:

  • beau (beautiful)
  • bon (good)
  • grand (big/tall)
  • gros (fat)
  • jeune (young)
  • joli (pretty)
  • mauvais (bad)
  • meilleur (better)
  • nouveau (new)
  • petit (small)
  • vieux (old)

Example: “une jolie fleur” (a pretty flower) or “un grand homme” (a tall man). 2, 4, 1

Meaning Changes with Position

Some adjectives can change meaning depending on whether they come before or after the noun. For example:

  • “un homme grand” means “a tall man”
  • “un grand homme” means “a great man”. 2, 1

Summary: BAGS Rule

A helpful mnemonic to remember adjectives that usually go before the noun is BAGS for Beauty, Age, Goodness, and Size.

In conclusion, while most French adjectives are placed after the noun, short frequently used adjectives related to beauty, age, goodness, and size go before the noun, and some adjectives change their meaning depending on their placement.

References

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