Forming the feminine of adjectives ending in -f : French language lesson

Look at these adjectives:

Pour Noël, j'ai eu un vélo neuf et une poupée neuve.
For Christmas, I got a new bike and a new doll.

J'ai un frère créatif et une soeur créative.
I've got a creative brother and a creative sister.

Dorian est actif mais Adèle n'est pas active.
Dorian is active but Adèle is not active.

Mon oncle est sportif et ma tante est sportive aussi.
My uncle is sporty and my aunt is sporty too.

J'ai un neveu vif et une nièce vive.
I've got a lively nephew and a lively niece.

In French, adjectives ending in -f become -ve in the feminine form.

Attention:

Bref takes an accent (brève) as well as the -ve ending in the feminine:

Ce livre est assez bref. Cette lettre est brève aussi.
This book is quite brief. This letter is brief too.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Dorian est actif mais Adèle n'est pas active.
Dorian is active but Adèle is not active.

Pour Noël, j'ai eu un vélo neuf et une poupée neuve.
For Christmas, I got a new bike and a new doll.

J'ai un frère créatif et une soeur créative.
I've got a creative brother and a creative sister.

J'ai un neveu vif et une nièce vive.
I've got a lively nephew and a lively niece.

Ce livre est assez bref. Cette lettre est brève aussi.
This book is quite brief. This letter is brief too.

Mon oncle est sportif et ma tante est sportive aussi.
My uncle is sporty and my aunt is sporty too.

Q&A

Gruff

Kwiziq language super star

1 October 2018

1/10/18

Hi Anna-liisa, we'll look at the question as it should tell you which word to agree in this exercise. French has two words for new, one means 'new' and the other is more like 'brand new'.

Anna-Liisa

Kwiziq community member

10 October 2018

10/10/18

Merci boucoup

Chris

Kwiziq community member

2 October 2018

2/10/18

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.

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

3 October 2018

3/10/18

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!

Ron

Kwiziq community member

14 August 2017

14/08/17

Bonsoir Sue, Looking at the Collins-Robert Dictionary: nouveau (nuvo, nuvɛl ) Word forms:nouvelle, nouvel, devant un nom masculin commençant par une voyelle ou un h muet, masculine plural nouveaux (remplacé) new ⇒ Il me faut un nouveau pantalon. I need some new trousers. ⇒ Elle a une nouvelle voiture. She's got a new car. (en plus) another ⇒ Il y eu un nouvel accident au carrefour. There's been another accident at the crossroads. [élève] new ⇒ Il y a un nouvel élève dans ma classe. There's a new boy in my class. (récent) new ⇒ C'est nouveau, essayez-le. It's new, try it. (= original) [idée, solution] novel neuf neuf 2 (nœf ; nœv ) Word forms:neuve adjective (= non usagé) new ⇒ des chaussures neuves new shoes (= nouveau) [regard, idées] new From studying the definitions and examples, it appears the differences are contextual, i.e. dependant on what is being described. Bonne chance.