Bien dit! 1 - Application 3.1 : Beau, nouveau, vieux

The French adjectives beau, nouveau, and vieux all go before nouns instead of after them.

All three of these adjectives are irregular.

Beau means beautiful, good-looking, handsome, or nice-looking.

It has five forms.

To say "The boy is handsome," we would say: Le garçon est beau.

Likewise, to say "The man is handsome," we would say: L'homme est beau.

A handsome boy would be un beau garçon.

However, a handsome man would not be un beau homme, but un bel homme. Why is this?

The form bel is used with masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel sound.

Since the word homme begins with a vowel sound (remember that H's are silent at the beginning of words in French), we must use the form bel in order to make liaison (word linking) possible and to avoid having two vowel sounds back-to-back.

The feminine singular form of beau is belle.

une belle fille (a beautiful girl)

une belle femme (a beautiful woman)

une belle maison (a beautiful house)

une belle idée (a nice idea)

The masculine plural of beau is beaux (with a silent X).

de beaux garçons, de beaux tableaux

The feminine plural is belles (with a silent S).

de belles filles, de belles maisons

Beaux and belles exhibit liaison before a vowel sound.

de beaux [z]hommes, de belles [z]idées

The adjective nouveau means new.

It follows the same pattern as beau.

Masculin singulier : nouveau (un nouveau livre)

Masculin singulier + voyelle ou H : nouvel (un nouvel élève, un nouvel hôpital)

Féminin singulier : nouvelle (une nouvelle voiture)

Masculin pluriel : nouveaux (de nouveaux livres)

Féminin pluriel : nouvelles (de nouvelles voitures)

Just like beaux and belles, the plural forms nouveaux and nouvelles exhibit liaison before a vowel sound.

de nouveaux [z]élèves, de nouveaux [z]hôpitaux

de nouvelles [z]élèves, de nouvelles [z]horloges

The adjective vieux means old.

It has only four forms.

The form vieux is used for masculine singular and masculine plural.

un vieux bureau (an old desk), de vieux bureaux (old desks)

If a masculine singular noun begins with a vowel sound, we use the form vieil: un vieil homme (an old man).

Before a vowel sound, the plural vieux exhibits liaison: de vieux [z]hommes (old men).

The feminine singular form is vieille.

une vieille femme (an old woman)

une vieille photo (an old photo)

The feminine plural form is vieilles.

de vieilles femmes (old women)

de vieilles photos (old photos)

Before a vowel sound, the S in vieilles is pronounced: de vieilles [z]écoles (old schools).