Understanding French Adjective Placement
French adjective placement is more complex than English. While most adjectives come after the noun, some important adjectives come before the noun.
The key is learning which adjectives go where, and understanding that placement can sometimes change meaning.
The famous BAGS rule helps remember the main categories of adjectives that come before nouns.
Examples
une voiture rouge (a red car - after noun)
Most adjectives follow this pattern
une belle voiture (a beautiful car - before noun)
Some adjectives come before the noun
une belle voiture rouge (a beautiful red car)
Multiple adjectives can surround the noun
The BAGS Rule: Adjectives Before Nouns
BAGS is a memory device for adjectives that typically come before the noun:
Beauty - beautiful, pretty, ugly
Age - young, old, new
Goodness - good, bad, better, worse
Size - big, small, long, short
These adjectives are among the most common and useful in French.
Beauty Adjectives (Before Noun)
Adjectives describing beauty and appearance:
Beauty Adjectives
| Pronoun | Conjugation | English |
|---|---|---|
| beau/belle | beautiful/handsome | un bel homme (a handsome man) |
| joli/jolie | pretty | une jolie fille (a pretty girl) |
| laid/laide | ugly | un laid bâtiment (an ugly building) |
Age Adjectives (Before Noun)
Adjectives describing age and time:
Age Adjectives
| Pronoun | Conjugation | English |
|---|---|---|
| jeune | young | un jeune homme (a young man) |
| vieux/vieille | old | une vieille dame (an old lady) |
| nouveau/nouvelle | new | une nouvelle voiture (a new car) |
| ancien/ancienne | former/old | un ancien professeur (a former teacher) |
Goodness Adjectives (Before Noun)
Adjectives describing quality and moral judgment:
bon/bonne (good): un bon livre (a good book)
mauvais/mauvaise (bad): une mauvaise idée (a bad idea)
meilleur/meilleure (better): un meilleur choix (a better choice)
pire (worse): une pire situation (a worse situation)
Size Adjectives (Before Noun)
Adjectives describing physical size:
grand/grande (big): une grande maison (a big house)
petit/petite (small): un petit chat (a small cat)
gros/grosse (fat/big): un gros problème (a big problem)
long/longue (long): une longue histoire (a long story)
Adjectives After Nouns (Most Common)
The majority of French adjectives come after the noun they modify. This includes most descriptive adjectives.
Color Adjectives (After Noun)
All color adjectives come after the noun:
Color Adjectives
| Pronoun | Conjugation | English |
|---|---|---|
| rouge | red | une voiture rouge (a red car) |
| bleu/bleue | blue | un ciel bleu (a blue sky) |
| vert/verte | green | des yeux verts (green eyes) |
| noir/noire | black | un chat noir (a black cat) |
Nationality Adjectives (After Noun)
All nationality adjectives come after the noun:
un restaurant français (a French restaurant)
une voiture allemande (a German car)
des étudiants américains (American students)
une famille italienne (an Italian family)
Shape and Physical Description (After Noun)
Most physical descriptions come after the noun:
une table ronde (a round table)
un homme mince (a thin man)
des cheveux bouclés (curly hair)
une femme élégante (an elegant woman)
Multiple Adjectives: Mixed Placement
When using multiple adjectives, some may go before the noun and others after, creating a "sandwich" effect.
Examples
une belle voiture rouge (a beautiful red car)
Beauty (belle) before + color (rouge) after
un petit chat noir (a small black cat)
Size (petit) before + color (noir) after
une grande maison moderne (a big modern house)
Size (grande) before + style (moderne) after
de nouveaux étudiants français (some new French students)
Age (nouveaux) before + nationality (français) after
Adjectives That Change Meaning
Some adjectives change meaning depending on whether they come before or after the noun:
Common Meaning-Changing Adjectives
These adjectives have different meanings in different positions:
Position Changes Meaning
| Pronoun | Conjugation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ancien | un ancien ami (former friend) | un bâtiment ancien (old building) |
| cher | mon cher ami (dear friend) | une voiture chère (expensive car) |
| grand | un grand homme (great man) | un homme grand (tall man) |
| pauvre | un pauvre homme (poor/pitiful man) | un homme pauvre (poor/no money man) |
More Examples of Meaning Changes
Additional adjectives that change meaning with position:
propre: ma propre voiture (my own car) vs une voiture propre (a clean car)
Position determines meaning: ownership vs cleanliness
seul: un seul homme (only one man) vs un homme seul (a lonely man)
Position determines meaning: only vs lonely
Special Cases and Exceptions
Some situations require special attention to adjective placement:
Examples
Compound adjectives: une voiture bleu foncé (a dark blue car)
Compound colors stay after the noun
Modified adjectives: une très belle maison (a very beautiful house)
Adverbs don't change adjective position
Invariable Adjectives
Some adjectives never change position or form:
des voitures marron (some brown cars)
Color marron never changes
des filles super (some great girls)
Informal super never changes
Common Placement Mistakes
Here are frequent errors students make with adjective placement:
1. Wrong BAGS placement: Putting BAGS adjectives after nouns
2. Color before noun: Putting colors before nouns
3. Nationality before noun: Putting nationalities before nouns
4. Meaning confusion: Not recognizing meaning changes with position
Examples
❌ une voiture belle → ✅ une belle voiture
Wrong: beauty adjectives go before noun
❌ une rouge voiture → ✅ une voiture rouge
Wrong: color adjectives go after noun
❌ un français restaurant → ✅ un restaurant français
Wrong: nationality adjectives go after noun
❌ un homme grand (great) → ✅ un grand homme (great)
Wrong position changes meaning: tall vs great