Interrogative Adjectives- Laura K. Lawless

Sometimes French grammar is much stricter than English grammar. A simple question like "What book do you want?" is technically incorrect, because in proper English, the question should be "Which book do you want?" In reality, the former is much more common than the latter.

In French, however, one does not have this option: the French equivalent of which,quel, must be used whenever there is more than one noun that you are choosing between.

Like all French adjectives, quel has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies - see the table at the end of this lesson.

The uses of quel are fairly straightforward - you need it whenever you want to ask for specific information about a noun:

   Pierre m'a prêté un livre. Quel livre ?
   Pierre loaned me a book. Which book?

   Nous devons partir avant midi. Quelle heure est-il ?
   We have to leave before noon. What time is it?

Questions with quel may be asked with est-ce que or inversion:

   Quel livre veux-tu ? / Quel livre est-ce que tu veux ?
   What book do you want?

   Quelles pommes aime-t-il ? / Quelles pommes est-ce qu'il aime ?
   Which apples does he like?

Quel + noun may be preceded by a preposition:

   À quelle heure veux-tu partir ? / À quelle heure est-ce que tu veux partir ?
   What time do you want to leave?

   De quels livres parle-t-il ? / De quels livres est-ce qu'il parle ?

   What books is he talking about?

To ask "what is ...?" or "what are ...?" use quel plus the appropriate conjugation ofêtre:

   Quel est le problème ?
   What's the problem?

   Quelles sont les différences ?
   What are the differences?

French Interrogative Adjectives
	Singular	Plural
Masculine	quel	quels
Feminine	quelle	quelles

Source

https://www.thoughtco.com/french-interrogative-adjectives-1368795

Possessive Adjectives- Laura K. Lawless

	Singular				Plural
English	Masculine	Feminine	Before vowel
my	mon	ma	mon		mes
your (tu form)	ton	ta	ton		tes
his, her, its	son	sa	son		ses
our	notre	notre	notre		nos
your (vous form)	votre	votre	votre		vos
their	leur	leur	leur		leurs

1. In French grammar, there are many more possessives than English, because there are different forms not only for the person and number, but sometimes also the gender and the first letter of the thing possessed.

2. When describing two or more nouns in French, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each one:

   son frère et sa sœur
   his brother and sister

   ma tante et mon oncle
   my aunt and uncle

3. The possessive adjective is almost never used with body parts in French. You can't say "my hand" or "my hair." Instead, the French use pronominal verbs to show possession with body parts:

   Je me suis cassé la jambe.
   I broke my leg (literally, I broke the leg of myself).

   Il se lave les cheveux.
   He's washing his hair (literally, He's washing the hair of himself).

In French grammar, there are three forms of the possessive for each singular person (I, you, he/she/it). The gender, number, and first letter of the noun possessed determine which form to use.

MY  

   mon (masculine singular) mon stylo > my pen
   ma (feminine singular) ma montre > my watch
   mes (plural) mes livres > my books

When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used, to avoid saying ma amie, which would break the flow of speech.

In this case, the possessive's final consonant is pronounced (the "n" in the example below) to achieve fluid pronunciation.

   mon amie - my (female) friend

YOUR (TU  FORM)

   ton (masculine singular)  ton stylo > your pen
   ta (feminine singular)  ta montre > your watch
   tes (plural)  tes livres > your books

When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used:

   ton amie - your (female) friend

Lesson: tu vs. vous

HIS / HER / ITS

   son (masculine singular)  son stylo > his, her, its pen
   sa (feminine singular)  sa montre > his, her, its watch
   ses (plural)  ses livres > his, her, its books

When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine possessive adjective is used:

   son amie - his, her, its (female) friend

Note: An important difference between French and English is that in French it is the gender of the noun that determines which form to use, not the gender of the subject.

A man would say mon livre when talking about a book, and a woman would also say mon livre. The book is masculine, and therefore so is the possessive adjective, no matter who the book belongs to. Likewise, both men and women would say ma maison, because "house" is feminine in French. It doesn't matter whether the owner of the house is male or female.

This difference between English and French possessive adjectives can be particularly confusing when talking about him/her/it. Son, sa, and ses can each mean his, her, or its depending on the context. For example, son lit can mean his bed, her bed, or its bed (for example, the dog's). If you need to stress the gender of the person the item belongs to, you can use à lui ("belonging to him") or à elle("belonging to her"):

   C'est son livre, à elle.  It's her book.

   Voici sa monnaie, à lui.  Here's his change.
 

For plural subjects (we, you, and they), French possessive adjectives are far simpler. There are only two forms for each grammatical person: singular and plural.

OUR

   notre (singular)  notre stylo > our pen
   nos (plural)  nos montres > our watches

YOUR (VOUS  FORM)

  votre (singular)  votre stylo > your pen
   vos (plural)  vos montres > your watches

Lesson: Tu vs. vous

THEIR

   leur (singular)  leur stylo > their pen
   leurs (plural)  leurs montres > their watches
 

Source-

https://www.thoughtco.com/french-possessive-adjectives-1368798

Demonstrative Adjectives- Laura K. Lawless

English	Masculine	Masc before vowel	Feminine
this, that	ce	cet	cette
these, those	ces	ces	ces

Demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate a specific noun or nouns. In French, they must agree with the noun(s) in number and sometimes gender.

Par exemple…

Ce livre est très bon. This/That book is really good.

Je vais acheter ces chaises.

I’m going to buy these/those chairs.

Characteristics of demonstrative adjectives

1. Used in place of an article (not with an article)

2. Placed directly in front of a noun or an adjective + noun

3. Agree with the demonstrated noun in number and sometimes gender

4. Demonstrative adjective + noun can be replaced by a demonstrative pronoun

There are three singular adjectives:

1. Masculine: ce

2. Masculine in front of a vowel: cet

3. Feminine: cette

When a singular demonstrative adjective precedes a masculine noun or adjective that begins

with a vowel or h muet, cet is used to avoid a hiatus.

Par exemple…

cet homme this/that man

cet ancien château this/that former château

There is only one plural demonstrative adjective: ces.

Cettes does not exist, and neither does cets.

Par exemple…

ces femmes these/those women

ces hommes these/those men

French vs English

French demonstrative pronouns make no distinction between "this" and "that" – ce, cet, and cette can

each mean either one. Likewise, ces can mean "these" or "those." When you need to make the

distinction, you can attach a suffix to the noun:

–ci = "this" or "these"

–là = "that" or "those"

Par exemple…

cette chaise-ci this chair

ces chaises-là those chairs

Je vais à cet hôtel-ci, pas à cette maison-là. I’m going to this hotel, not that house.

Les couleurs (détaillées)

Nuances

To nuance these adjectives, we also use these other adjectives:

·         Light - clair

·         Dark - foncé

·         Bright – Vif (feminine vive)

·         Pale - pâle

French Color Adjectives and Names of Stones, Fruits, Flowers etc...

Adjectives coming from nouns of fruits, precious stones or flowers are invariable, in general. Some common colors coming from fruits/ stones / flowers include:

·         Marron (horse chestnut)

·         Noisette (hazelnut)

·         Olive (olive)

·         Citron (lemon)

·         Orange (orange)

·         Abricot (apricot)

·         Lavande (lavender)

·         Fuschia (fuschia)

·         Turquoise (turquoise)

·         Brique (brick)

·         Bronze (bronze)

·         And the list goes on and on...

so, since these do not change, you would say:

·         Des cravates orange – orange ties (not oranges)

·         Des yeux marron – brown eyes (not marrons)

·         Des yeux noisette – hazel eyes (not noisettes)

·         Des fleurs fuschia  - fuschia color flowers (not fuschia/e/s)

·         Des chaussures citron - lemon color shoes (not citron/e/s)

·         Des  pantalons cerise - cherry color pants (not cerises)

·          

Except for “pourpre (purple red), mauve, rose, écarlate (scarlet red), fauve (fawn), incarnat (crimson red)” which agree with the number and gender of the noun they modify.

·         Des chaussures roses – pink shoes

Des chaussures violettes- violet shoes

When Several Adjectives Form One Single Color in French

When a color uses several colors, or an adjective of nuance, then the color adjectives are invariable.

·         Une Chemise bleu vert (not bleue verte)

·         Des yeux gris bleu (not gris bleus) 

·         Une robe vert pâle. (not verte pâle)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  source french.about.com

Les couleurs

noir        black 

blanc     white 

rouge    red 

 bleu      blue

 vert       green

 orange orange

 jaune   yellow 

 marron                brown (of object)

 brun     brown (of hair, skin, eyes)

 violet    violet 

 rose      pink 

 gris        gray 

 beige    beige

 mauve purple

l’Argent (m)  Silver

L' Or(m) Gold

Doré- Golden

Argenté- Silvery

1) Black

2) White

3) Red

4)Blue

5) Green

6) Orange

7) Yellow

8)Brown (of object)

9)Brown (of hair, skin, eyes)

10)Violet

11)Pink

12)Gray

13)Beige

14)Purple

15)Silver

16)Gold

17)Golden

18)Silvery

Coloriage- Les couleurs

Comment est-il ? (Comment est-elle)

He / She is...			Il / Elle est...
	tall			grand(e)
	short			petit(e)
	fat			gros(se)
	thin			mince
	handsome			beau, joli
	pretty			belle, jolie
	ugly			moche, laid(e)
	tan			bronzé(e)
He / She has...			Il / Elle a...
	blue	eyes		les yeux	bleus
	green				verts
	hazel				noisette
	brown				bruns
	black	hair		les cheveux	noirs
	brown				châtains, bruns
	red				roux
	blond				blonds
	long				longs
	short				courts
	straight				raides
	curly				bouclés
	wavy				ondulés
	freckles			des taches de rousseur
	dimples			des fossettes

athletic- sportif (sportive)

brave- courageux (courageuse)

cowardly- lâche

cunning, shrewd- malin (maline)

friendly- amical (amicale)

unfriendly- froid (froide)

funny- drôle

serious- sérieux (sérieuse)

hard-working- travailleur (travailleuse)

lazy- paresseux (paresseuse)

interesting- intéressant (intéressante)

boring- ennuyeux (ennuyeuse)

kind- gentil (gentille)

mean- méchant (méchante)

nice- sympathique (or sympa)

outgoing- ouvert (ouverte)

shy- timide

patient- patient (patiente)

impatient- impatient (impatiente)

patriotic- patriotique

smart- intelligent (intelligente)

stupid- stupide

sophisticated- raffiné (raffinée)

naive- naïf (naïve)

strong- fort (forte)

weak- faible

studious- studieux (studieuse)

playful- taquin (taquine)