French language; Placement of the Adjective

Placement of the Adjective

Generally, adjectives follow nouns:

C'est un livre amusant.

It's an entertaining book.

Le bébé a besoin d'une chaise haute.

The baby needs a high chair.

However, certain common adjectives precede the noun. They include:

bon good,
mauvais bad,
grand big, great,
petit small, little, petty,
jeune young,
vieux old, aged,

long long,
beau beautiful,
faux false,
gros gross, rude,
nouveau new,
joli nice, beautiful.

Examples:

Ce bourgogne est encore un bon vin.

This burgundy is still a good wine.

Il a joué une fausse note.

He played the wrong note.

A few adjectives change meaning when placed before the noun. Generally, it is thought that when placed after the noun, these adjectives retain their literal meaning; placed before it, they take on a figurative sense:

mon ancien professeur / mon professeur ancien my former professor / my aged professor
ma propre chambre / ma chambre propre my own room / my clean room
un grand homme / un homme grand a great man / a big man
le seul voyageur / un voyageur seul the only traveler / a solitary traveler

See also Adjective (formation, degree of comparison etc.).

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