You can already describe how people look — now it's time to describe their personality. This lesson gives you a rich set of character adjectives: kind, intelligent, funny, serious, shy, brave, and more. You'll also deepen your understanding of adjective agreement, focusing on number (singular vs. plural) and some important irregular forms. Camille and Lucas are at the office canteen talking about their colleagues — a very realistic everyday context in Paris.
Learning tips
- For adjectives ending in -eux (sérieux, courageux), the feminine is formed by replacing -eux with -euse: sérieux → sérieuse, courageux → courageuse.
- Adjectives ending in -il double the consonant before adding -e for the feminine: gentil → gentille.
- Some adjectives like sympa, drôle, timide, and aimable are the same for masculine and feminine — and they are easy to use because you never have to change them.
- To make adjectives plural, add a silent -s (or nothing if the word already ends in -s or -x): gentils, intelligentes, sérieux (masc. plural unchanged), sérieuses (fem. plural).
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| grand | tall / big |
| petit | short / small |
| jeune | young |
| vieux | old |
| joli | pretty / nice-looking |
| beau | handsome / beautiful (masc.) |
| belle | beautiful (fem.) |
| mince | slim / thin |
| fort | strong |
| les cheveux | the hair |
Dialog
It's lunchtime at the office canteen. Lucas asks Camille about her colleagues and she describes their personalities. Notice how she adjusts adjective endings depending on whether she's talking about a man or a woman.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| gentil | /ʒɑ̃.ti/ | kind / nice (masc.) | Masculine form. Irregular: the feminine doubles the l — gentille. |
| gentille | /ʒɑ̃.tij/ | kind / nice (fem.) | Feminine of gentil. Note the double l: gentille /ʒɑ̃.tij/. |
| intelligent | /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃/ | intelligent (masc.) | The masculine final t is silent: /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃/. |
| intelligente | /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃t/ | intelligent (fem.) | Adding -e makes the final t audible: /ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃t/. |
| sympa | /sɛ̃.pa/ | nice / cool (informal) | Short for sympathique. Invariable — same for masc., fem., and plural. |
| drôle | /dʁol/ | funny / amusing | Invariable — same for masculine and feminine: il est drôle, elle est drôle. |
| sérieux | /se.ʁi.jø/ | serious (masc.) | -eux ending: masculine ends in -x. Feminine: sérieuse. |
| timide | /ti.mid/ | shy / timid | Invariable — same for masculine and feminine: il est timide, elle est timide. |
| courageux | /ku.ʁa.ʒø/ | brave / courageous (masc.) | -eux ending. Feminine: courageuse. |
| aimable | /ɛ.mabl/ | pleasant / kind | Invariable — same for masculine and feminine: il est aimable, elle est aimable. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| amusant | /a.my.zɑ̃/ | ||
| calme | /kalm/ | ||
| bavard | /ba.vaʁ/ | ||
| généreux | /ʒe.ne.ʁø/ | ||
| patient | /pa.sjɑ̃/ | ||
| formidable | /fɔʁ.mi.dabl/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| comment est-il ? | what is he like? / how is he? |
| il est très gentil | he is very kind |
| elle est sympa | she is nice / she is cool |
Grammar: Adjective agreement in number (singular/plural) — common irregular adjective forms
| Masculin singulier | Féminin singulier | Masculin pluriel | Féminin pluriel |
|---|---|---|---|
| gentil | gentille | gentils | gentilles |
| intelligent | intelligente | intelligents | intelligentes |
| sérieux | sérieuse | sérieux | sérieuses |
| courageux | courageuse | courageux | courageuses |
| sympa | sympa | sympas | sympas |
| drôle | drôle | drôles | drôles |
| timide | timide | timides | timides |
| aimable | aimable | aimables | aimables |
You already know that adjectives agree with the gender of the noun they describe. This lesson adds the plural dimension: adjectives must also agree with number (singular vs. plural). To make most adjectives plural, you simply add a silent -s to the singular form: gentil → gentils, intelligente → intelligentes, sympa → sympas. The -s is always silent, so the plural sounds the same as the singular. There are two exceptions worth noting. First, adjectives that already end in -s or -x in the masculine singular do not change in the masculine plural: sérieux → sérieux (plural), courageux → courageux (plural). The feminine plural of these adjectives does add -s: sérieuse → sérieuses. Second, some adjectives like gentil double the final consonant before adding -e (gentil → gentille), and then add -s for the plural: gentils (masc. pl.), gentilles (fem. pl.). So the full agreement pattern for gentil is: gentil / gentille / gentils / gentilles. Adjectives that are invariable (the same for all genders) — like sympa, drôle, timide, aimable — simply add -s for the plural: sympas, drôles, timides, aimables.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the correct adjective form (watch the gender of the subject).
- Mon collègue est très . (kind, masc.)(collègue here is masculine — use the masculine form of gentil)
- Sophie est et . (intelligent, fem. / funny)(Sophie is feminine — use fem. form of intelligent; drôle is invariable)
- Le directeur est mais . (serious / kind)(le directeur is masculine; then a word meaning kind/pleasant that is invariable)
- La stagiaire est . (shy)(la stagiaire is feminine — but this adjective is invariable)
- Pierre est avec tout le monde. (kind, pleasant)(Pierre is masculine — but this adjective is invariable)
Grammar Application
Give the requested form of each adjective.
- Forme féminine : gentil → (gentil doubles its final consonant before adding -e)
- Forme féminine : sérieux → (-eux becomes -euse in the feminine)
- Forme plurielle (m.) : gentil → (masc. plural — add silent -s)
- Forme plurielle (f.) : intelligente → (fem. plural — add silent -s to the feminine form)
- Forme féminine : courageux → (-eux becomes -euse in the feminine)
Translate into French
Translate each English sentence into French.
- He is kind and intelligent.
- She is funny and nice.
- The director is serious.
- My colleague is brave and pleasant.
- They are shy.
Build Your Own Sentence
Write 3–5 French sentences describing the personality of a real or imaginary person. Use at least two adjectives that require gender agreement and one that is invariable.
Takeaway
Adjectives must agree in both gender and number — add -s for plural forms, and remember that -eux adjectives (sérieux, courageux) become -euse in the feminine.