Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Grammar Focus Lesson
EDCI 469
POSITION OF FRENCH ADJECTIVES
(POSITION D'ADJECTIFS)
GRADE: 5 (may be used in older grades)
TIME: 10 minutes
MATERIALS:
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Chalkboard and Chalk
Envelopes of descriptive sentences cut up into pieces
PLO’S: (across the curriculum)
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Ask and respond to simple questions
Respond to classroom instructions
Respond to creative works from the Francophone world
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
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Students should have already been exposed to agreement of adjectives (masc., fem., and
plural) in a previous lesson
OBJECTIVES:
Students will…
 Be familiar with the general placement of descriptive adjectives
 Understand when adjectives are placed before the noun (BAGS)
 Be able to identify some of the exceptions
Part 1: Placement after the noun
Unlike the English language adjectives, French descriptive adjectives are generally placed after the
noun and include colour, shape, taste, nationality, religion, personality and mood. (Can be
categorized)
a black tea
un thé noir
a square table
une table carrée
Canadian woman
une femme canadienne
Part 2: Placement before the noun
Some adjectives that are placed before the noun can be memorized using an acronym:
(Inherent qualities)
Beauty
Age
Good and Bad
Size (except grand when used with people)
handsome man
young girl
bad child
small problem
un bel homme
une jeune fille
un mauvais enfant
un petit problem
Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Grammar Focus Lesson
EDCI 469
Part 3: Some exceptions
Some adjectives have both a figurative and literal meaning. The figurative goes before the noun and
the literal goes after.
Figurative:
Literal:
my old (former) school
my old school
Figurative:
Literal:
a great man
a tall man
mon ancienne école
mon école ancienne
un grand homme
un homme grand
Resources:
Lawless, L. K. Position of French adjectives.
http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/adjectives_4.htm. Accessed on Oct 28, 2012
Practice Sentences:
The fireman drives a red truck
Einstein is a smart man
A little girl gave me a red rose
He has a Canadian dollar
There are beautiful mountains in BC
Le pompier conduit un camion rouge
Einstein est un homme intelligent
Une petite fille m'a donné une rose rouge
Il a un dollar canadien
Il ya de belles montagnes en Colombie-Britannique
Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Grammar Focus Lesson
EDCI 469
The fireman drives a red truck
Le pompier conduit un __________ ___________ camion rouge
Einstein is a smart man
Einstein est un ___________ _____________ homme intelligent
A little girl gave me a white rose
Une ______ _______ m'a donné une ________ ________
rose blanche petite fille
He has a Canadian dollar
Il a un dollar canadien
There are beautiful mountains in BC
Il ya de belles montagnes en Colombie-Britannique