Wednesday, September 15, 2010

French Adjectives - Agreement in Colour Words

French colour words, like other adjectives, must change their forms depending on whether the nouns they are describing are masculine (le/un words) or feminine (la/une words) and singular or plural.

Eg. le crayon noir (the black pencil)
      les crayons noirs (the black pencils)
      la chaussure noire (the black shoe)
      les chaussures noires (the black shoes)

Masculine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine SingularFeminine Plural
vert verts verte vertes
noir noirs noire noires
violet violets violette violettes
brun bruns brune brunes
gris gris grise grises
bleu bleus bleue bleues
blanc blancs blanche blanches

The colours below are the same whether they are masculine or feminine.
Masculine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine SingularFeminine Plural
rouge rouges rouge rouges
jaune jaunes jaune jaunes
rose roses rose roses
orange oranges orange oranges

Can you translate the colours in the chart above?


Visit Nallenart for more information about our French curriculum for grades K-9.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

French Lessons From Your Dictionary at French4Homeschool

"When you have access to a good quality, comprehensive, French-English dictionary, you open up a world of possibilities to your French as a Second Language students. Vocabulary building is an important part of language learning, and having a good dictionary makes it easy and fun.

What dictionary should you buy?"

Read more at French4Homeschool.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

French Adjectives - Agreement in Number and Gender

French adjectives can change their forms depending on whether the nouns they describe are masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Usually the feminine form adds “e” to the masculine adjective. This can change the pronunciation of the adjective by causing the final consonant to be pronounced.


Eg.: The dog is small.
     ms Le chien est petit. (puh-TEE)

The mouse is small.
     fs La souris est petite. (puh-TEET)


The plural form adds “s.” This “s” is almost never pronounced.

Eg.: The dogs are small.
     mp Les chiens sont petits. (puh-TEE)

The mice are small.
     fp Les souris sont petites. (puh-TEET)

In English, the adjective doesn't change,but in French it must agree in number (singular or plural) and in gender (masculine or feminine) with the noun that it is describing. Remember this when you are using any French adjective, especially colour words.

Visit Nallenart for more information about our French curriculum for grades K-9.