Beau, nouveau, vieux have different plural forms for masculine and feminine (adjectives) : French language revision

Look at these adjectives:

Tom est beau, mais Henri et Bob sont très beaux.
Tom is handsome, but Henri and Bob are very handsome.

Yvette est belle, mais Leila et Belinda sont très belles.
Yvette is beautiful, but Leila and Belinda are very beautiful.

C'est un bel animal parmi de beaux animaux.
It's a beautiful animal among beautiful animals.

Note that to form the masculine plural, adjectives ending in -eau add -x, and vieux doesn't change.

As for the feminine plural, it is regular and simply takes an -s.

BUT

The masculine forms bel, nouvel and vieil (when in front of a vowel) become the regular masculine plural beaux, nouveaux and vieux.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Regarde ces vieux hommes et ces vieilles femmes.
Look at these old men and these old women.

Yvette est belle, mais Leila et Belinda sont très belles.
Yvette is beautiful, but Leila and Belinda are very beautiful.

Ce vieil arbre est à côté de ces vieux arbres.
This old tree is next to these old trees.

Tom est beau, mais Henri et Bob sont très beaux.
Tom is handsome, but Henri and Bob are very handsome.

Mon nouvel ami s'entend bien avec mes nouveaux amis.
My new friend gets along with my new friends.

J'ai acheté de nouveaux bols et de nouvelles assiettes.
I bought some new bowls and some new plates.

"Plurals in French" by www.frenchspanishonline.com

C'est un bel animal parmi de beaux animaux.
It's a beautiful animal among beautiful animals.

Q&A

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

8 January 2019

8/01/19

Hi John,

It is a little grammatical rule which is explained in the following lesson -

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/use-de-d-instead-of-des-in-front-of-adjectives-preceding-nouns-partitive-article

Hope this helps!

Chris

Kwiziq community member

15 October 2018

15/10/18

You need to accord the participle to the subject:

Les nouveaux voisins sont arrivés.
Les nouvelles voisines sont arrivées.

Janet

Kwiziq community member

15 October 2018

15/10/18

Thanks Chris.

Chris

Kwiziq community member

15 October 2018

15/10/18

See answer to this question in your next post.

Anne

Kwiziq community member

7 March 2017

7/03/17

Sorry bols not bowls spell checker can't cope with French spelling! Nor would it embolden each 'des'.

Sar

Kwiziq community member

8 March 2017

8/03/17

Je crois que "des" devient "de" devant les adjectifs que se placent devant le nom? Peut-être je me trompe.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

10 March 2017

10/03/17

Bonjour Anne ! Sar is right, and here is a link to our related lesson: Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article) À bientôt !

Laura

Kwiziq language super star

4 August 2016

4/08/16

Bonjour Matthew, No, you're a bit mixed up. Per the note at the bottom of the lesson: "The masculine forms bel, nouvel and vieil (when in front of a vowel) become the regular masculine plural beaux, nouveaux and vieux." Feminine nouns always use their feminine forms; it's only singular masculine ones that have the special form.