The adjective
An adjective is a word which describes a noun
or pronoun
 Different types of adjective are classified
according to the way they describe a noun or
pronoun:
(1) Descriptive
(4) Demonstrative
(2) Possessive
(3) Interrogative

Which type of adjective in English?
 His book is lost
 She read an interesting book
 What book is lost?
 Our parents are away
 This teacher is excellent
 He has brown eyes
 That question is appropriate
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In English, adjectives do not change their form,
regardless of the noun or pronoun described
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In French, adjectives change in order to agree in
gender and number with the noun or pronoun
they modify.
French descriptive adjectives

Most descriptive adjectives in French add an –e
to the masculine form to make the feminine
form and an –s to the masculine singular or
feminine singular form to make it plural
French descriptive adjectives
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Most French descriptive adjectives come after
the noun they modify
Translate:
She is reading an interesting book
Paul is a handsome boy and Mary is a pretty girl
Review
Identify the adjectives in the sentences below
and state what type of adjective they are:
 The young man was reading a French
newspaper
 She looked pretty in her new red dress
 It is interesting
 The old piano could still produce good music
 Paul was tired after his long walk
French possessive adjectives

A possessive adjective is a word which describes
a noun by showing who possesses that noun.
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In English: possessive adjectives are identified
according to the person they represent.
A possessive adjective changes according to the
possessor, regardless of the objects possessed.
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In French, a possessive adjective changes
according to the possessor, but unlike English it
also agrees, like all French adjectives, in
gender and number with the noun
possessed.
Possessive adjectives

m (sing)
f (sing)
plural
English
my
your (tu)
his, her,
its
our
your
(vous)
their
Possessive adjectives

m (sing)
f (sing)
plural
English
mon
ma
mes
my
ton
ta
tes
your (tu)
son
sa
ses
notre
notre
nos
his, her,
its
our
votre
votre
vos
leur
leur
leurs
your
(vous)
their
Singular possessors

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Singular possessors:
my, your (tu form), his, her, its
In French, each of these possessive adjectives
has three forms depending on the gender and
number of the noun possessed.
Translate
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Anne reads my book
Anne reads her book
Paul knows my friend
Paul reads my letter
John looks at his mum
Plural possessors
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Plural possessors:
our, your (vous-form), their
In French, each of these possessive adjectives
has only two forms, depending on the number
of the noun possessed (i.e. whether it is singular
or plural).
Plural possessors
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noun possessed is singular: notre, votre, leur
Mary is our daughter
Paul reads your letter
They read their letter
Plural possessors
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Noun possessed is plural: nos, vos, leurs
The parents are our friends
Anne reads your books
They read their letters
Interrogative adjectives
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An interrogative adjective is a word that asks for
information about a noun.
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In English: the words which and what are
interrogative adjectives when they come in front
of a noun and are used to ask a question about
that noun.
Interrogative adjectives
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In French, there is only one interrogative
adjective: quel
It changes to agree in gender and number with
the noun it modifies.
Interrogative adjectives
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Noun modified is harder to identify when it is
separated from the interrogative adjective;
What is your address?
Which are his favourite books?
Careful!
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The word ‘what’ is not always an interrogative
adjective.
e.g. ‘What is on the table’ it is an interrogative
pronoun.
Demonstrative adjectives
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A demonstrative adjective is a word use to point
out a noun:
This book is interesting
In English, the demonstrative adjectives are: this
and that in the singular and these and those in the
plural.
Demonstrative adjectives
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In French, there is only one demonstrative
adjective: ce
It changes to agree in gender and number with
the noun it modifies.
Therefore, in order to say ‘that book’ or ‘this
dress’, start by analysing the noun book or dress.
Demonstrative adjectives
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(1) noun modified is masculine singular and
starts with a consonant  ce
This (or that) book is on the table
(2) noun modified is masculine singular and
starts with a vowel  cet
This (or that) appartment is large
Demonstrative adjectives
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(3) noun modified is feminine singular  cette
This (or that) dress is pretty
(4) noun modified is plural  ces
These (or those) books are on the table
Demonstrative adjectives
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To distinguish between what is close to the
speaker (this, these) from what is far from the
speaker (that, those), -ci or -là can be added after
the noun.
Translate the following
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These book are expensive, but those books are
not expensive.
The beautiful gardens.
They read their letter.
What is your favourite city?