-f → -ve

Feminine of Adjectives Ending in -f

Level 1

Masculine: -f → Feminine: -ve

How It Works

When an adjective in its masculine singular form ends in -f, you must transform it to -ve to describe a feminine noun. This is a standard rule of adjective agreement.

Key Rules:

  • Feminine Singular: -f becomes -ve (e.g., actif → active).
  • Masculine Plural: Simply add an -s to the masculine singular (e.g., actif → actifs). The pronunciation doesn't change; the 'f' is pronounced and the 's' is silent.
  • Feminine Plural: To form the feminine plural, take the feminine singular (-ve) and add an -s (e.g., active → actives).
  • Pronunciation: Unlike many final consonants in French, the -f in these adjectives is usually pronounced. In the feminine form, the -v is also clearly pronounced.

Common Adjectives:
Many adjectives following this pattern end in the suffix -if, such as sportif (athletic) and créatif (creative). Other important examples include neuf (brand new/factory new), which becomes neuve (note that this differs from nouveau/nouvelle, which means 'new to the speaker/owner'), vif (lively), which becomes vive, juif (Jewish), which becomes juive, and veuf (widowed), which becomes veuve. You will also frequently see sauf (safe), which becomes sauve, especially in the common expression sain et sauf (safe and sound) → saine et sauve. Another common example is naïf (naive), which becomes naïve in the feminine, retaining the tréma (diaeresis) on the 'i'.

Special Case:
The adjective bref (brief) becomes brève in the feminine. Note the addition of the grave accent (è) to maintain the open 'e' sound.

Examples (6)

  1. Il est très sportif, et elle est très sportive.

    He is very athletic, and she is very athletic.

    Word by Word: He is very athletic, and she is very athletic.

    The masculine 'sportif' changes to 'sportive' to agree with the feminine subject 'elle'.

  2. J'ai acheté une voiture neuve.

    I bought a brand new car.

    Word by Word: I have bought a car brand new.

    The adjective 'neuf' (brand new) becomes 'neuve' because 'voiture' is a feminine noun.

  3. La réponse a été très brève.

    The response was very brief.

    Word by Word: The response has been very brief.

    The masculine 'bref' becomes 'brève' in the feminine, requiring a grave accent.

  4. Elle est très active dans son travail.

    She is very active in her work.

    Word by Word: She is very active in her work.

    The feminine form 'active' is used to describe the feminine subject 'elle'.

  5. Ce sont des filles très vives.

    They are very lively girls.

    Word by Word: These are some girls very lively.

    The plural feminine form 'vives' (from 'vif') matches the plural feminine noun 'filles'.

  6. Elle est rentrée saine et sauve.

    She returned safe and sound.

    Word by Word: She is returned healthy and safe.

    The common expression 'sain et sauf' becomes 'saine et sauve' to agree with the feminine subject.

Common Mistakes

  • Simply adding an -e without changing the -f to -v.

    Elle est sportife.
    Elle est sportive.

    In French, the -f must change to -v before adding the feminine -e. Writing 'sportife' is a common spelling error.

  • Forgetting the grave accent on 'brève'.

    Une réunion breve.
    Une réunion brève.

    The adjective 'bref' is unique because it requires a grave accent in its feminine form 'brève' to keep the correct vowel sound.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-f → -veLevel 1Feminine of Adjectives Ending in -f

Learn This First

To understand how adjectives ending in -f change to -ve, you first need to understand the concept of grammatical gender in French and the general rule that adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify. Familiarity with the standard feminine ending (-e) provides the necessary context for this specific spelling change.