French adjective declensions

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The general rule is simple: Add E to get the feminine form, add S at the end for plural.

un grand homme, deux grands hommes

une grande femme, deux grandes femmes

Note that the E is silent, but it changes the pronunciation of the preceding consonant.

Of course an adjective ending in E doesn't need a feminine E, and an adjective ending in S or X doesn't need a plural S.

The masculine ending -al is changed to -aux in plural, the plural of -eau adjectives is formed with an additional X instead of an S.

le musée national, les musées nationaux

l'archive nationale, les archives nationales

un beau garçon, des beaux garçons

une belle fille, des belles filles

Some endings are more complicated:

<tr> <th>-er</th> <th>-ère</th> <td>régulier(s)</th> <td>régulière(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-eur</th> <th>-euse</th> <td>menteur(s)</th> <td>menteuse(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-eux</th> <th>-euse</th> <td>hereux</th> <td>heureuse(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-f</th> <th>-ve</th> <td>neuf(s)</th> <td>neuve(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-ic</th> <th>-ique</th> <td>public(s)</th> <td>publique(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-l</th> <th>-lle</th> <td>gentil(s)</th> <td>gentille(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-n</th> <th>-nne</th> <td>bon(s)</th> <td>bonne(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-oux</th> <th>-ouse</th> <td>jaloux</th> <td>jalouse(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-s</th> <th>-sse</th> <td>gros</th> <td>grosse(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-t</th> <th>-tte</th> <td>net(s)</th> <td>nette(s)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>-teur</th> <th>-trice</th> <td>dévastateur(s)</th> <td>dévastatrice(s)</th> </tr> </table> Some adjectives are even more irregular. Their masculine singular form ends in a non-mute vowel and the feminine form in a consonant. For ease of pronunciation, there is an alternative masculine form used when the adjective precedes a vowel or a mute H:

masc.	fem.	example (m)	example (f)
-c	-che	blanc(s)</th> <td>blanche(s)</th>

masculine	alt.	feminine
beau(x)	bel	belle(s)
fou(s)	fol	folle(s)
mou(s)	mol	molle(s)
nouveau(x)	nouvel	nouvelle(s)
vieux	vieil	vieille(s)

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