Describe places: common irregular and pre-nominal adjectives | French

Starter quiz

Match the French and the English.
- plage
  
  ⇔
  
  beach ✓
- rue
  
  ⇔
  
  road, street ✓
- cinéma
  
  ⇔
  
  cinema ✓
- café
  
  ⇔
  
  cafe ✓
- magasin
  
  ⇔
  
  shop ✓
- bateau
  
  ⇔
  
  boat ✓
Which words have a soft [c/ç] sound?
- calme
- voici ✓
- acteur
- médecin ✓
- couleur
Choose the correct preposition.
- dans
- derrière
- sur
- devant ✓
- entre
Choose the correct adjective: 'c'est une fille ______.'
- méchant
- amusante ✓
- heureux
- intéressant
Put the words in order to form a sentence.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  il y a
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  un
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  chien
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  triste
Make this adjective masculine: contente
- 'content' ✓

Exit quiz

Which vowels follow a soft [c] in French?
- a
- e ✓
- i ✓
- o
- u
Which vowels follow a hard [c] or a soft [ç] in French?
- a ✓
- e
- i
- o ✓
- u ✓
Match the French and the English.
- un bâtiment
  
  ⇔
  
  a building ✓
- un pont
  
  ⇔
  
  a bridge ✓
- un jardin
  
  ⇔
  
  a garden ✓
- une église
  
  ⇔
  
  a church ✓
Match the French and the English.
- vieux
  
  ⇔
  
  old ✓
- nouveau
  
  ⇔
  
  new ✓
- haut
  
  ⇔
  
  tall, high ✓
- beau
  
  ⇔
  
  beautiful ✓
- bon
  
  ⇔
  
  good ✓
Make this adjective feminine: vieux
- 'vieille' ✓
Put the words in order to form a sentence.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  il y a
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  une
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  haute
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  montagne

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

The letter 'c' is naturally soft (sounds like 's') before 'e' or 'i'. It is hard (sounds like k) before 'a', 'o' or 'u'.
The 'c' is sometimes softened before 'a', 'o' or 'u' with a cedilla: 'ç'.
Many adjectives add an 'e' in the feminine form. Some adjectives are irregular in the feminine e.g. beau (m), belle (f).
Most adjectives come after the noun in French: 'un livre intéressant'.
Some adjectives go before the noun. These adjectives refer to beauty, age, good/bad and size (BAGS): 'un vieux vélo'.

Common misconception

All adjectives go after the noun in French, the opposite to the word order of nouns and adjectives in English.

Most adjectives do go after the noun in French, however some adjectives go before the noun, these are pre-nominal adjectives. They refer to age, beauty, goodness and size (BAGS).

Keywords

[c] - makes a soft sound (like 's') before 'e' or 'i': 'ici', makes a hard sound (like 'k') before 'a', 'o' and 'u': canard
[ç] - makes a soft sound before 'a', 'o' or 'u', pronounced as in 'français'
Irregular feminine adjective - an adjective in the feminine form that does not follow the regular pattern: 'beau' (m), 'belle' (f)
Pre-nominal adjective - a BAGS adjective (beauty, age, good/bad or size) that goes before the noun: 'un vieux vélo'