Jeune | Free French language Q&A with teachers & community

sue

Kwiziq community member

8 September 2016

2 replies

Jeune

Hi Laura You have Jeune before the noun, but it can be placed before or afterwards. The example i was given is un jeune professeur and a professeur jeune. The first meaning he was not long a professeur and the second that he was a professeur who was young in age. If this is the case can we always assume that jeune before the noun means young in age?

This question relates to:
French lesson "Short and common adjectives that go BEFORE nouns (adjective position)"

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

8 September 2016

8/09/16

Bonjour Sue, This lesson at an earlier level gives you the main rule for positions of adjectives in French, but of course (and as always with French!), there are further subtleties. Generally speaking, a lot of adjectives can be used either before or after the noun and here the nuance: "after" adjectives' meaning is more literal, objective or based on neutral observation (un prof jeune is a statement on his age) whereas "before" adjectives take on more of a subjective, figurative or based on opinion meaning (un jeune prof can be as much about an evaluation of his age as of his inexperience). I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !