-e

Regular Feminine Agreement with -e

Level 1

In French, adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. The standard way to create a feminine adjective is to add an -e to the masculine singular form.

How It Works

French adjectives are flexible; they change their spelling based on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

1. The Basic Rule
For most adjectives, simply add an -e to the masculine form:

  • grand (masculine) → grande (feminine)
  • bleu (masculine) → bleue (feminine)

2. Pronunciation Changes
Adding the -e often changes the sound of the word:

  • Silent Consonants: If the masculine ends in a silent consonant (like d, s, t), the -e 'wakes it up.' For example, in petit, the 't' is silent. In petite, the 't' is clearly pronounced.
  • Vowel Endings: If the masculine ends in a vowel (like joli), the pronunciation usually stays the same even though the spelling changes (jolie).
  • Nasal Sounds: If the masculine ends in a nasal 'n' (like américain), adding -e removes the nasal sound and makes the 'n' sound clear (américaine).

3. When NOT to add -e
If an adjective already ends in an unaccented -e in its masculine form (like calme or rouge), do not add another one. These are called 'epicene' adjectives and look the same for both genders.

Examples (5)

  1. Le garçon est grand. La fille est grande.

    The boy is tall. The girl is tall.

    Word by Word: The boy is tall. The girl is tall.

    Notice how 'grand' adds an -e for the feminine 'fille'. The 'd' is silent in 'grand' but pronounced in 'grande'.

  2. C'est un petit chat. C'est une petite voiture.

    It is a small cat. It is a small car.

    Word by Word: It is a small cat. It is a small car.

    Because 'voiture' is feminine, we add -e to 'petit' to make it 'petite'.

  3. Le ciel est bleu. Ma chemise est bleue.

    The sky is blue. My shirt is blue.

    Word by Word: The sky is blue. My shirt is blue.

    For adjectives ending in vowels like 'bleu', we add the -e in writing, but the pronunciation remains the same.

  4. Il est américain. Elle est américaine.

    He is American. She is American.

    Word by Word: He is American. She is American.

    Adding -e to 'américain' changes the nasal 'ain' sound to a clear 'n' sound.

  5. Le livre est vert. La pomme est verte.

    The book is green. The apple is green.

    Word by Word: The book is green. The apple is green.

    The feminine 'verte' allows us to hear the 't' sound which is silent in the masculine 'vert'.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding an extra -e to adjectives that already end in -e.

    La fleur est rougee.
    La fleur est rouge.

    If the masculine form already ends in -e (like rouge, calme, or facile), you don't add another one for the feminine form.

  • Forgetting to pronounce the final consonant in the feminine form.

    Elle est petit (pronounced like 'peti').
    Elle est petite (pronounced like 'petit').

    In the feminine form, the final consonant (like 't' or 'd') must be pronounced because of the following -e.

  • Forgetting the -e in writing because it is silent.

    Une maison vert.
    Une maison verte.

    Even if you don't hear a big difference in some words, the -e must always be written to agree with a feminine noun.

How It Connects

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

-eLevel 1Regular Feminine Agreement with -e

Learn This First

To understand how to form feminine adjectives with -e, you first need to understand that French nouns are categorized as masculine or feminine and that adjectives must change their form to match the gender of the noun they describe.

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-e