Why is "Leaving the adjective in the masculine singular regardless of the noun (une maison blanc)" a common mistake in Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars?

Why it happens: English adjectives never change, so beginners don't think to add a feminine or plural ending. How to avoid it: Before writing any adjective, ask 'what gender and number is the noun?' then add -e / -s / -es as needed. Write *une maison blanche*, *des yeux bleus*. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing), accuracy

Why is "Putting every adjective before the noun, English-style (une rouge voiture)" a common mistake in Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars?

Why it happens: Learners copy English word order, where the adjective always precedes the noun. How to avoid it: Default to placing the adjective AFTER the noun (*une voiture rouge*). Only the small BAGS group (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size) goes before. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Papers 3 & 4

Why is "Inventing regular feminines for irregular adjectives (beaue, blance, vieuxe)" a common mistake in Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars?

Why it happens: Beginners apply the +e rule mechanically to adjectives that have special feminine forms. How to avoid it: Memorise the irregular feminines as fixed pairs: *beau → belle*, *blanc → blanche*, *vieux → vieille*, *long → longue*, *bon → bonne*. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)

Why is "Vowel clash with beau/nouveau/vieux before a vowel (un beau appartement)" a common mistake in Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars?

Why it happens: Learners don't know the special pre-vowel masculine forms and either keep the normal form or wrongly switch to the feminine. How to avoid it: Use *bel*, *nouvel*, *vieil* before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h: *un bel appartement*, *un nouvel ami*, *un vieil homme*. These stay masculine. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)

Why is "Adding endings to invariable colours (des yeux marrons, des murs bleus clairs)" a common mistake in Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars?

Why it happens: Learners agree every colour by default, not realising some colours never change. How to avoid it: Leave noun-derived colours (*marron*, *orange*) and compound colours (*bleu clair*, *vert foncé*) invariable — masculine singular always. Only simple single-word colours agree. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)

Why is "Using the feminine plural for a mixed-gender group" a common mistake in Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars?

Why it happens: Learners agree with the nearest noun or guess, rather than applying the default rule. How to avoid it: For a group containing at least one male, French uses the **masculine plural**: *Marie et Paul sont contents* (not *contentes*). Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Papers 3 & 4

Core GrammarCambridge IGCSE French (0520)

Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

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French adjectives: agreement, position and irregulars — Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 (2025-2027)

A complete beginner's guide to making French adjectives agree (masculine/feminine, singular/plural), knowing when they go before or after the noun, and handling the high-frequency irregulars. Master the one rule that earns accuracy marks in Paper 4 Writing and Paper 3 Speaking.

At a glance

In French, an adjective must agree with its noun: it changes its ending to match gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
The regular pattern is simple: +e for feminine, +s for plural, +es for feminine plural — un petit chat (a small cat) → une petite chatte (a small female cat).
Adding -e for the feminine often wakes up a silent consonant: grand (gron) → grande (grond), so masculine and feminine can sound different.
Most adjectives go AFTER the noun — the opposite of English: une voiture rouge (a red car), literally 'a car red'.
A small group of common adjectives goes BEFORE the noun. Remember BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size — un petit chien (a small dog).
Some endings have special feminine forms: -eux → -euse, -f → -ve, -er → -ère, -eur → -euse, plus doubled-consonant types like bon → bonne.
A few very common adjectives are irregular: beau / belle (beautiful), nouveau / nouvelle (new), vieux / vieille (old), blanc / blanche (white), long / longue (long).
Colours from nouns and compound colours never change: des yeux marron (brown eyes), une jupe bleu clair (a light blue skirt).

What you’ll learn

Mapped to the Cambridge IGCSE 0520 syllabus (2025-2027).

Explain why French adjectives must agree with their noun in gender and number.
Apply the regular agreement pattern (+e, +s, +es) to form all four endings of a regular adjective.
Recognise that adding -e for the feminine can change pronunciation by sounding a silent consonant.
Decide whether an adjective goes before or after the noun, using the BAGS group of pre-noun adjectives.
Form the feminine and plural of the main irregular ending-groups (-eux, -f, -er, -eur, doubled consonant).
Use the high-frequency irregular adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux, blanc and long with the correct forms.
Identify invariable adjectives (colours from nouns, compound colours) that never agree.

Why French adjectives change — the idea of agreement

Unlike English, a French adjective copies the gender and number of its noun.

In English, an adjective never changes: we say a small cat, a small house, small cats — the word small stays exactly the same. French is different. A French adjective must agree with its noun, which means it changes its ending to match two things:

Gender — is the noun masculine (le/un) or feminine (la/une)?
Number — is the noun singular (one) or plural (more than one)?

So one English adjective can have up to four forms in French. Here is petit (small):

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	petit	petits
Feminine	petite	petites

Examples:

un petit garçon (a small boy) — masculine singular.
une petite fille (a small girl) — feminine singular, +e.
des petits garçons (small boys) — masculine plural, +s.
des petites filles (small girls) — feminine plural, +es.

Think of it as the adjective "copying" the noun. First ask "what gender is the noun?" and "is it one or many?", then dress the adjective to match. The starting form you find in a dictionary is always the masculine singular — that is your base, and you build the other three from it.

Worked mini-example. Make intelligent (intelligent) agree with une femme (a woman). The noun is feminine singular, so add -e: une femme intelligente (an intelligent woman). For des femmes (women), feminine plural, add -es: des femmes intelligentes.

English adjectives never change; French adjectives agree with their noun.
Agreement = match gender (m/f) AND number (singular/plural).
One adjective can have four forms: masculine sing., feminine sing., masculine pl., feminine pl.
The dictionary form is the masculine singular — build the others from it.

The regular pattern — +e, +s, +es

Add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for both; adjectives already ending in -e or -s barely change.

From one base form, build all four: +e (feminine), +s (plural), +es (feminine plural).

For a regular adjective, the four forms follow one simple recipe. Start from the masculine singular and:

Step	Add	Gives	Example (grand — big/tall)
Feminine	+ e	feminine singular	grande
Plural	+ s	masculine plural	grands
Feminine plural	+ es	feminine plural	grandes

Two easy special cases that mean "do almost nothing":

Already ends in -e (no accent)? The masculine and feminine are identical — just add -s for the plural. rouge (red) → rouge / rouge / rouges / rouges. So un livre rouge (a red book) and une porte rouge (a red door) use the same form.
Already ends in -s or -x? The masculine plural does not change (you don't add a second s). un cours français (a French course) → des cours français (French courses).

Hearing the change: the silent consonant wakes up. Adding -e for the feminine often makes a previously silent final consonant sound. This is why masculine and feminine can sound different:

Masculine	Said	Feminine	Said	English
grand	gron	grande	grond	big/tall
petit	puh-TEE	petite	puh-TEET	small
français	fron-SEH	française	fron-SEZ	French
content	kon-TON	contente	kon-TONT	happy

Worked mini-example. Make vert (green) agree with une pomme (an apple) — feminine singular. Add -e: une pomme verte (a green apple). Notice the sound change too: vert (vair, t silent) → verte (vairt, t now heard).

Regular recipe: +e feminine, +s plural, +es feminine plural.
Adjective already ends in -e (no accent)? Masculine = feminine; just +s for plural (rouge).
Ends in -s or -x? Masculine plural is unchanged (français → français).
Adding -e often sounds a silent consonant (grand gron → grande grond).

Position — most adjectives go AFTER the noun

French normally puts the adjective after the noun; a small BAGS group goes before.

Most adjectives follow the noun; the small BAGS set comes before it.

This is where French flips English on its head. In English the adjective comes before the noun: a red car. In French, most adjectives come AFTER the noun:

une voiture rouge — a red car (literally "a car red").
un livre intéressant — an interesting book.
une ville moderne — a modern town.
un film français — a French film.

Adjectives of colour, shape, nationality and longer descriptive words almost always follow the noun.

The exception: BAGS adjectives go BEFORE the noun. A small group of very common, short adjectives comes before the noun, just like English. The memory word is BAGS:

Letter	Meaning	Common adjectives
B	Beauty	beau (beautiful), joli (pretty)
A	Age	vieux (old), jeune (young), nouveau (new)
G	Goodness	bon (good), mauvais (bad)
S	Size	grand (big/tall), petit (small), gros (fat/big)

Examples:

un petit chien — a small dog.
une jolie maison — a pretty house.
un bon repas — a good meal.
une vieille ville — an old town.

Worked mini-example. Build "a big red house". Grand is a size (BAGS → before); rouge is a colour (→ after). So the noun maison (house, feminine) sits in the middle: une grande maison rouge. The two adjectives go on opposite sides of the noun.

Default position is after the noun: une voiture rouge (a red car).
Colours, nationalities and longer adjectives go after.
BAGS adjectives go before: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size.
BAGS members: beau, joli, vieux, jeune, nouveau, bon, mauvais, grand, petit, gros.

Special feminine endings — -eux, -f, -er, doubled consonants

Certain masculine endings transform in a predictable way to make the feminine.

Some adjectives don't simply add -e — their masculine ending changes shape to make the feminine. The good news is these are patterns, not random: learn the ending, and you know the whole family.

Masculine ending	Feminine ending	Example (m → f)	English
-eux	-euse	heureux → heureuse	happy
-f	-ve	sportif → sportive	sporty
-er	-ère	cher → chère	expensive/dear
-eur	-euse	travailleur → travailleuse	hard-working
-on	-onne	bon → bonne	good
-en	-enne	italien → italienne	Italian
-el	-elle	naturel → naturelle	natural
-et	-ète (or -ette)	inquiet → inquiète	worried
-gros	-grosse	gros → grosse	fat/big

The "doubled consonant" idea. Notice several of these double the final consonant before adding -e: bon → bonne, italien → italienne, naturel → naturelle. The doubling is what makes the consonant sound clearly in the feminine. Remember from pronunciation that a single n nasalises but a doubled n is said clearly — so bon (bon, nasal) and bonne (bon, clear n) actually sound different.

Plurals of these are normal — you still just add -s (or nothing if it already ends in -s/-x):

heureux (m. sing.) → heureux (m. pl., already ends in -x, no change).
heureuse (f. sing.) → heureuses (f. pl.).
sportif → sportifs (m. pl.); sportive → sportives (f. pl.).

Worked mini-example. Make sportif (sporty) agree with ma sœur (my sister) — feminine singular. The -f becomes -ve: ma sœur est sportive (my sister is sporty). For mes sœurs (my sisters): mes sœurs sont sportives.

-eux → -euse (heureux → heureuse); -eur → -euse (travailleur → travailleuse).
-f → -ve (sportif → sportive); -er → -ère (cher → chère).
Doubled consonant: -on → -onne, -en → -enne, -el → -elle.
Plurals are normal: just +s (or no change if already -s/-x).

The high-frequency irregulars — beau, nouveau, vieux and friends

A handful of very common adjectives must be learned by heart, including a special form before a vowel.

A few extremely common adjectives are irregular — their forms must be memorised. Because they appear constantly (and several are BAGS adjectives that sit before the noun), they are worth learning thoroughly.

Masc. sing.	Masc. before vowel	Fem. sing.	Masc. pl.	Fem. pl.	English
beau	bel	belle	beaux	belles	beautiful
nouveau	nouvel	nouvelle	nouveaux	nouvelles	new
vieux	vieil	vieille	vieux	vieilles	old
blanc	blanc	blanche	blancs	blanches	white
long	long	longue	longs	longues	long
fou	fol	folle	fous	folles	mad/crazy

The special "before a vowel" form. Beau, nouveau, vieux and fou each have an extra masculine form (bel, nouvel, vieil, fol) used before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h. This is purely so it sounds smooth:

un beau garçon (a handsome boy) — consonant start, normal form.
un bel homme (a handsome man) — homme starts with silent h, so bel.
un nouvel ami (a new friend), un vieil arbre (an old tree).

Examples in context:

une belle voiture (a beautiful car) — feminine.
de nouveaux livres (new books) — masculine plural.
une vieille maison (an old house) — feminine.
une chemise blanche (a white shirt) — feminine; note blanc → blanche.
une longue journée (a long day) — feminine; note long → longue.

Worked mini-example. "An old man" vs "an old woman". Vieux is a BAGS (Age) adjective, so it goes before the noun. Man = homme (starts with silent h) → use vieil: un vieil homme. Woman = femme (feminine) → use vieille: une vieille femme.

Learn by heart: beau/belle, nouveau/nouvelle, vieux/vieille, blanc/blanche, long/longue.
Special pre-vowel masculine forms: bel, nouvel, vieil, fol (before vowel or silent h).
un bel homme (a handsome man), un nouvel ami (a new friend), un vieil arbre (an old tree).
These are mostly BAGS adjectives, so they sit before the noun.

Adjectives that never change — invariable colours

Colours from nouns and compound colours stay in the masculine singular form always.

Most adjectives agree, but a small set is invariable — it never changes, no matter the gender or number of the noun. At Standard level you mainly need two cases, both about colour.

1. Colours that come from a noun. Some colour words are really the names of objects, so they refuse to agree. The most common is marron (literally "chestnut", used for brown):

des yeux marron (brown eyes) — no -s, even though yeux is plural.
une jupe marron (a brown skirt) — no -e, even though jupe is feminine.

Other examples: orange (orange, from the fruit) — des chaussures orange (orange shoes).

2. Compound (two-word) colours. When a colour is described by a second word (like clair — light, or foncé — dark, or another colour), the whole phrase stays masculine singular:

une jupe bleu clair (a light-blue skirt) — not bleue claire.
des yeux bleu foncé (dark-blue eyes) — no agreement at all.
une voiture vert pomme (an apple-green car).

Compare with a simple colour, which does agree normally:

une jupe bleue (a blue skirt) — feminine -e, because bleu is alone.
des yeux bleus (blue eyes) — plural -s.

Worked mini-example. "Brown shoes" vs "blue shoes". Chaussures (shoes) is feminine plural. Brun/marron: if you use marron (invariable) it stays des chaussures marron. Bleu is a simple, normal colour, so it agrees: des chaussures bleues (feminine plural, +es).

Invariable = never changes form (no -e, no -s).
Colours from nouns don't agree: marron (brown), orange — des yeux marron.
Compound colours stay masculine singular: bleu clair, vert foncé.
A simple colour still agrees normally: une jupe bleue, des yeux bleus.

How it’s examined

Adjective agreement and position are tested across all four papers of Cambridge IGCSE French 0520, and they are a frequent source of accuracy marks (and lost marks).

Paper 1 (Listening): A sounded final consonant signals the feminine — hearing petite (puh-TEET) vs petit (puh-TEE), or grande vs grand, can tell you whether the thing described is masculine or feminine even when the noun is unclear.
Paper 2 (Reading): Recognising special endings (-euse, -ère, -elle) and irregular forms (belle, vieille, blanche) helps you understand descriptions and identify gender. Position (BAGS before, others after) helps you parse a noun phrase correctly.
Paper 3 (Speaking): Describing yourself, your family, your town or a photo all require correct agreement and natural word order (une vieille ville, des yeux marron). Pronouncing the feminine forms (sounding the consonant) is part of accuracy.
Paper 4 (Writing): This is where agreement matters most. Examiner reports repeatedly note candidates who write the adjective in the masculine singular regardless of the noun. Each missed agreement (une maison blanc instead of blanche) is an accuracy error.

Common exam tasks — describing a person, a place, or items of clothing — are essentially agreement tests in disguise. Always check the noun's gender and number, then dress the adjective to match.

Sources: Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 Syllabus 2025-2027; Cambridge 0520 Paper 2 (Reading) & Paper 4 (Writing) Specimen 2025-2027; Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports 2022-2024. Last reviewed 2026-06-02.

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Step-by-step worked examples — Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

Step-by-step solutions to past-paper-style questions on adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars, written exactly the way a tutor would explain them at the board.

1Make a regular adjective agree with its noun
Getting started
Question
Make the adjective vert (green) agree in each phrase: (a) un sac ___ (a green bag, sac is masculine), (b) une porte ___ (a green door, porte is feminine), (c) des arbres ___ (green trees, masculine plural).
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Find the noun's gender and number first. (a) un sac = masculine singular, (b) une porte = feminine singular, (c) des arbres = masculine plural.
2. Step 2
  Apply the recipe. Masculine singular = base form (no change). Feminine singular = +e. Masculine plural = +s.
3. Step 3
  Build each form: (a) vert stays vert; (b) vert + e → verte; (c) vert + s → verts.
Answer
(a) un sac vert (a green bag), (b) une porte verte (a green door), (c) des arbres verts (green trees).
Examiner tip
The whole skill is the habit of checking the noun before writing the adjective. In Paper 4, une porte vert (no -e) is a clear accuracy error. Note that the feminine verte sounds the final t (vairt) while vert (vair) does not.
2Place adjectives before or after the noun
Building confidence
Question
Put the words in the correct order to mean a small red car. You have: voiture (car, feminine), petit (small), rouge (red), une.
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Classify each adjective. petit is a Size word → it belongs to BAGS, so it goes before the noun. rouge is a colour → it goes after the noun.
2. Step 2
  Make both agree with voiture (feminine singular). petit → petite (+e). rouge already ends in -e, so it does not change.
3. Step 3
  Assemble: une + (before) petite + voiture + (after) rouge.
Answer
une petite voiture rouge (a small red car). The size adjective (petite) sits before the noun; the colour (rouge) sits after.
Examiner tip
Word order is a common Paper 4 slip caused by copying English (une rouge voiture is wrong). Only the small BAGS set goes before the noun; colours always follow it.
3Form the feminine of a special-ending adjective
Building confidence
Question
Complete with the correct form: Mon frère est sportif. Ma sœur est ___. (My brother is sporty. My sister is ___.)
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Spot the ending. sportif ends in -f, one of the special-pattern endings.
2. Step 2
  Apply the -f → -ve rule. Adjectives ending in -f form the feminine in -ve: sportif → sportive.
3. Step 3
  Check the subject. Ma sœur (my sister) is feminine singular, so sportive is correct (not sportife).
Answer
Ma sœur est sportive. (My sister is sporty.) The -f changes to -ve in the feminine.
Examiner tip
Examiners reward learners who handle ending-families confidently. Related patterns to know: heureux → heureuse (happy, -eux → -euse) and cher → chère (expensive, -er → -ère).
4Choose the right irregular form before a vowel
Stretch
Question
Choose between beau / bel / belle: (a) un ___ jardin (a beautiful garden), (b) un ___ appartement (a beautiful flat), (c) une ___ maison (a beautiful house).
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Identify gender and first sound of each noun. jardin = masculine, starts with a consonant. appartement = masculine, starts with a vowel. maison = feminine.
2. Step 2
  Recall the three forms of beau. Normal masculine = beau; masculine before a vowel/silent h = bel; feminine = belle.
3. Step 3
  Match each one: (a) masculine + consonant → beau; (b) masculine + vowel → bel; (c) feminine → belle.
4. Step 4
  Remember position. Beau is a Beauty adjective (BAGS), so it goes before the noun in all three.
Answer
(a) un beau jardin, (b) un bel appartement, (c) une belle maison. The pre-vowel form bel is still masculine — don't switch to the feminine belle just because the noun starts with a vowel.
Examiner tip
beau → bel, nouveau → nouvel, vieux → vieil before a masculine vowel-noun are exactly the forms higher-band candidates produce. Writing un beau appartement (vowel clash) instead of un bel appartement is the classic slip.

Model Answers — Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

High-scoring sample answers for adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars on the Cambridge IGCSE 0520 paper, with examiner-style notes mapping each response to the mark scheme and assessment objectives.

Question 1
Paper 3 (Speaking) / Paper 4 (Writing) style. Describe yourself physically in two or three sentences, using at least three adjectives correctly.
Model answer
Je suis assez grand et j'ai les cheveux bruns et les yeux marron. (I am quite tall and I have brown hair and brown eyes.)

Je porte souvent une belle chemise blanche et un vieux jean bleu. (I often wear a beautiful white shirt and old blue jeans.)
Why this scores
Why this scores. Agreement is handled correctly throughout: cheveux bruns (masculine plural, +s), yeux marron (invariable colour — no -s), belle chemise blanche (feminine: belle before the noun, blanche after), and vieux jean bleu (BAGS vieux before, colour bleu after). It shows range — a BAGS adjective, an irregular (belle, blanche), and an invariable colour (marron) — exactly what lifts a description into the higher band.
Question 2
Paper 4 (Writing) style. Describe your home in one or two sentences, using adjectives in the correct position with correct agreement.
Model answer
J'habite dans une vieille maison blanche avec un grand jardin. (I live in an old white house with a big garden.)

Ma chambre est petite mais très confortable, avec des murs bleu clair. (My room is small but very comfortable, with light-blue walls.)
Why this scores
Why this scores. It places BAGS adjectives before (vieille, grand) and others after (blanche, confortable), with full agreement to feminine maison and chambre. The compound colour bleu clair is correctly left invariable (not bleus clairs). Using both an irregular (vieille) and a compound colour demonstrates control beyond simple one-word adjectives.
Question 3
Paper 3 (Speaking) style. Describe two members of your family, using adjectives that agree with each person's gender.
Model answer
Mon père est grand et sportif. (My father is tall and sporty.)

Ma mère est petite et très gentille. (My mother is small and very kind.) Mes deux frères sont intelligents et heureux. (My two brothers are intelligent and happy.)
Why this scores
Why this scores. Each adjective agrees with the right person: masculine grand/sportif for père; feminine petite/gentille for mère (note the irregular gentil → gentille); masculine plural intelligents/heureux for frères (heureux already ends in -x, so no extra -s). Matching the ending to the subject's gender is the core accuracy skill being tested.

Key Definitions and Keywords — Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

Definitions to memorise and the exact keywords mark schemes credit for adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars answers — sharpened from recent examiner reports for the 2026 0520 sitting.

Agreement (accord)
Examiner keyword
Changing an adjective's ending so it matches its noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
Example
un livre vert (a green book) → une porte verte (a green door).
petit / petite / petits / petites
Examiner keyword
The regular adjective pattern: base form, +e for feminine, +s for plural, +es for feminine plural. (petit = small)
Example
un petit chien (a small dog), une petite fille (a small girl).
BAGS adjectives
Examiner keyword
The small group of adjectives that go BEFORE the noun: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size. Most other adjectives go after.
Example
un grand jardin (a big garden), une bonne idée (a good idea).
beau / bel / belle
Examiner keyword
Irregular adjective for 'beautiful'. Use bel before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h; belle is the feminine.
Example
un beau garçon (a handsome boy), un bel homme (a handsome man), une belle voiture (a beautiful car).
nouveau / nouvel / nouvelle
Examiner keyword
Irregular adjective for 'new'. nouvel is used before a masculine vowel-noun; nouvelle is the feminine.
Example
un nouveau livre (a new book), un nouvel ami (a new friend), une nouvelle maison (a new house).
vieux / vieil / vieille
Examiner keyword
Irregular adjective for 'old'. vieil is used before a masculine vowel-noun; vieille is the feminine.
Example
un vieux livre (an old book), un vieil homme (an old man), une vieille ville (an old town).
blanc / blanche
Examiner keyword
Irregular adjective for 'white'. The masculine -c becomes -che in the feminine.
Example
un mur blanc (a white wall), une chemise blanche (a white shirt).
-eux → -euse, -f → -ve, -er → -ère
Predictable special feminine endings. Many adjectives transform their ending rather than just adding -e.
Example
heureux → heureuse (happy), sportif → sportive (sporty), cher → chère (expensive).
Invariable colour (marron, orange)
Examiner keyword
A colour that never changes form. Colours borrowed from nouns (marron = chestnut) and compound colours (bleu clair) do not agree.
Example
des yeux marron (brown eyes), une jupe bleu clair (a light-blue skirt).
Position (noun + adjective)
The default French order: the adjective comes AFTER the noun, the opposite of English. Only BAGS adjectives come before.
Example
une voiture rouge (a red car), un film intéressant (an interesting film).

Common Mistakes and Misconceptions — Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

The traps other students keep falling into on adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars questions — taken from recent Cambridge IGCSE 0520 examiner reports and mark schemes — and how to avoid them.

✕Leaving the adjective in the masculine singular regardless of the noun (une maison blanc)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing), accuracy
Why it happens
English adjectives never change, so beginners don't think to add a feminine or plural ending.
How to avoid it
Before writing any adjective, ask 'what gender and number is the noun?' then add -e / -s / -es as needed. Write une maison blanche, des yeux bleus.
✕Putting every adjective before the noun, English-style (une rouge voiture)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Papers 3 & 4
Why it happens
Learners copy English word order, where the adjective always precedes the noun.
How to avoid it
Default to placing the adjective AFTER the noun (une voiture rouge). Only the small BAGS group (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size) goes before.
✕Inventing regular feminines for irregular adjectives (beaue, blance, vieuxe)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)
Why it happens
Beginners apply the +e rule mechanically to adjectives that have special feminine forms.
How to avoid it
Memorise the irregular feminines as fixed pairs: beau → belle, blanc → blanche, vieux → vieille, long → longue, bon → bonne.
✕Vowel clash with beau/nouveau/vieux before a vowel (un beau appartement)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)
Why it happens
Learners don't know the special pre-vowel masculine forms and either keep the normal form or wrongly switch to the feminine.
How to avoid it
Use bel, nouvel, vieil before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h: un bel appartement, un nouvel ami, un vieil homme. These stay masculine.
✕Adding endings to invariable colours (des yeux marrons, des murs bleus clairs)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)
Why it happens
Learners agree every colour by default, not realising some colours never change.
How to avoid it
Leave noun-derived colours (marron, orange) and compound colours (bleu clair, vert foncé) invariable — masculine singular always. Only simple single-word colours agree.
✕Using the feminine plural for a mixed-gender group
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Papers 3 & 4
Why it happens
Learners agree with the nearest noun or guess, rather than applying the default rule.
How to avoid it
For a group containing at least one male, French uses the masculine plural: Marie et Paul sont contents (not contentes).

Past paper style quiz

Get a report showing which sub-topics you've nailed and which ones still need work.

Singular

Plural

Masculine

petit

petits

Feminine

petite

petites

Step

Add

Gives

Example (grand — big/tall)

Feminine

+ e

feminine singular

grande

Plural

+ s

masculine plural

grands

Feminine plural

+ es

feminine plural

grandes

Masculine

Said

Feminine

Said

English

grand

gron

grande

grond

big/tall

petit

puh-TEE

petite

puh-TEET

small

français

fron-SEH

française

fron-SEZ

French

content

kon-TON

contente

kon-TONT

happy

Letter

Meaning

Common adjectives

Beauty

beau (beautiful), joli (pretty)

Age

vieux (old), jeune (young), nouveau (new)

Goodness

bon (good), mauvais (bad)

Size

grand (big/tall), petit (small), gros (fat/big)

Masculine ending

Feminine ending

Example (m → f)

English

-eux

-euse

heureux → heureuse

happy

-f

-ve

sportif → sportive

sporty

-er

-ère

cher → chère

expensive/dear

-eur

-euse

travailleur → travailleuse

hard-working

-on

-onne

bon → bonne

good

-en

-enne

italien → italienne

Italian

-el

-elle

naturel → naturelle

natural

-et

-ète (or -ette)

inquiet → inquiète

worried

-gros

-grosse

gros → grosse

fat/big

Masc. sing.

Masc. before vowel

Fem. sing.

Masc. pl.

Fem. pl.

English

beau

bel

belle

beaux

belles

beautiful

nouveau

nouvel

nouvelle

nouveaux

nouvelles

new

vieux

vieil

vieille

vieux

vieilles

old

blanc

blanc

blanche

blancs

blanches

white

long

long

longue

longs

longues

long

fou

fol

folle

fous

folles

mad/crazy

Most adjectives agree, but a small set is invariable — it never changes, no matter the gender or number of the noun. At Standard level you mainly need two cases, both about colour.

1. Colours that come from a noun. Some colour words are really the names of objects, so they refuse to agree. The most common is marron (literally "chestnut", used for brown):

des yeux marron (brown eyes) — no -s, even though yeux is plural.
une jupe marron (a brown skirt) — no -e, even though jupe is feminine.

Other examples: orange (orange, from the fruit) — des chaussures orange (orange shoes).

2. Compound (two-word) colours. When a colour is described by a second word (like clair — light, or foncé — dark, or another colour), the whole phrase stays masculine singular:

une jupe bleu clair (a light-blue skirt) — not bleue claire.
des yeux bleu foncé (dark-blue eyes) — no agreement at all.
une voiture vert pomme (an apple-green car).

Compare with a simple colour, which does agree normally:

une jupe bleue (a blue skirt) — feminine -e, because bleu is alone.
des yeux bleus (blue eyes) — plural -s.

Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

Detailed Notes

What you’ll learn

How it’s examined

1Make a regular adjective agree with its noun

2Place adjectives before or after the noun

3Form the feminine of a special-ending adjective

4Choose the right irregular form before a vowel

Agreement (accord)

petit / petite / petits / petites

BAGS adjectives

beau / bel / belle

nouveau / nouvel / nouvelle

vieux / vieil / vieille

blanc / blanche

-eux → -euse, -f → -ve, -er → -ère

Invariable colour (marron, orange)

Position (noun + adjective)

✕Leaving the adjective in the masculine singular regardless of the noun (une maison blanc)

✕Putting every adjective before the noun, English-style (une rouge voiture)

✕Inventing regular feminines for irregular adjectives (beaue, blance, vieuxe)

✕Vowel clash with beau/nouveau/vieux before a vowel (un beau appartement)

✕Adding endings to invariable colours (des yeux marrons, des murs bleus clairs)

✕Using the feminine plural for a mixed-gender group

Past paper style quiz

Adjectives - agreement, position and irregulars

Detailed Notes

What you’ll learn

How it’s examined

1Make a regular adjective agree with its noun

2Place adjectives before or after the noun

3Form the feminine of a special-ending adjective

4Choose the right irregular form before a vowel

Agreement (accord)

petit / petite / petits / petites

BAGS adjectives

beau / bel / belle

nouveau / nouvel / nouvelle

vieux / vieil / vieille

blanc / blanche

-eux → -euse, -f → -ve, -er → -ère

Invariable colour (marron, orange)

Position (noun + adjective)

✕Leaving the adjective in the masculine singular regardless of the noun (une maison blanc)

✕Putting every adjective before the noun, English-style (une rouge voiture)

✕Inventing regular feminines for irregular adjectives (beaue, blance, vieuxe)

✕Vowel clash with beau/nouveau/vieux before a vowel (un beau appartement)

✕Adding endings to invariable colours (des yeux marrons, des murs bleus clairs)

✕Using the feminine plural for a mixed-gender group

Past paper style quiz