Thank you for writing in to support. You wrote: "The car is feminine une voiture. Why is NOUVELLE wrong? I have not seen NEUVE used before. Can you ex

Anna-Liisa D.A0Kwiziq community member

Thank you for writing in to support. You wrote: "The car is feminine une voiture. Why is NOUVELLE wrong? I have not seen NEUVE used before. Can you ex

Asked 6 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Anna Liisa,

Just to add to what Chris said-

nouveau/nouvel/nouvelle (new) is normally placed before the noun as in:

Mon nouvel ami s'appelle Martin = My new friend is called Martin

Ma nouvelle voiture est bleue My new car is a blue one

Mon nouveau pote s'appelle Jacques My new mate is called Jacques

but

neuf/neuve ( brand new) is always placed after the noun.

J'ai un vélo tout neuf = I have a brand new bike

Ma voiture est neuve = My car  is brand new

But if you say:

"J'ai une nouvelle voiture", we don't know whether it is brand new or not, it is just 'new to you'

Hope this helps!

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Nouveau/nouvelle -- new to me but not necessarily "brand new". The opposite of nouveau is ancien (=former).

Mets un nouvelle chemise, celle-ci a une tâche. -- Put on a new shirt, this one has a stain.
Here the shirt isn't fresh out of the factory but just fresh out of the closet.

Neuf/neuve -- brand new, newly made. The opposite of neuf is vieux (=old).

J'ai fixé ton vélo. C'est comme neuf. -- I fixed your bike. It's like new.

Thank you for writing in to support. You wrote: "The car is feminine une voiture. Why is NOUVELLE wrong? I have not seen NEUVE used before. Can you ex

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