Adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux have THREE forms in the singular.Â
The feminine form of the adjectives beau, nouveau, vieux, fou and mou in French
Look at these cases:
Here are all the forms:
masc before cons. | masc before vowel | feminine | meaning |
beau | bel | belle | good-looking/pretty/handsome |
nouveau | nouvel | nouvelle | new |
vieux | vieil | vieille | old |
fou | fol | folle | crazy/mad |
mou | mol* | molle | soft |
*very rare form
Cases of bel, nouvel, vieil,...
Note that the masculine form changes when it's followed by a noun starting with a vowel or mute h.
This 3rd form exists to ease pronunciation.
This 3rd form exists to ease pronunciation.
However, this rule only applies if the word after beau, nouveau, vieux... is a noun:
Â
Here are more examples to listen to:
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