Grammar: Structures and Agreement

Beyond tenses, GCSE French requires confident use of adjective agreement, pronouns, negatives, and comparison structures. Mastering these will elevate your accuracy and help you achieve top marks in both writing and speaking.

---

Adjective agreement (L'accord des adjectifs)

In French, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

Basic rules

	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Masculine plural	Feminine plural
Regular	petit	petite	petits	petites
Ending in -e (no change for fem.)	timide	timide	timides	timides
Ending in -eux	heureux	heureuse	heureux	heureuses
Ending in -if	sportif	sportive	sportifs	sportives
Ending in -er	premier	première	premiers	premières
Ending in -el	naturel	naturelle	naturels	naturelles
Ending in -on	bon	bonne	bons	bonnes

Irregular adjectives

Masculine	Feminine	English
beau	belle	beautiful / handsome
nouveau	nouvelle	new
vieux	vieille	old
blanc	blanche	white
long	longue	long
gros	grosse	fat / big
gentil	gentille	kind
favori	favorite	favourite

Position of adjectives

Most French adjectives go after the noun:

• un livre intéressant — an interesting book
• une fille intelligente — an intelligent girl

However, a small group of common adjectives go before the noun. Remember them with BAGS (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size):

Category	Examples
Beauty	beau/belle, joli(e)
Age	jeune, vieux/vieille, nouveau/nouvelle
Goodness	bon(ne), mauvais(e), gentil(le)
Size	grand(e), petit(e), gros(se), long(ue)

• une belle maison — a beautiful house
• un petit jardin — a small garden
• un mauvais film — a bad film

Note: beau, nouveau and vieux have special forms before masculine nouns starting with a vowel or silent h: bel, nouvel, vieil — un bel homme (a handsome man), un nouvel ami (a new friend), un vieil arbre (an old tree).

flowchart TD
    Adj[Adjective] --> Gen{Noun gender?}
    Gen -->|Masculine| MS{Plural?}
    Gen -->|Feminine| Fem["Add -e<br/>petit -> petite"]
    MS -->|Singular| Base["Base form<br/>petit"]
    MS -->|Plural| MP["Add -s<br/>petits"]
    Fem --> FP{Plural?}
    FP -->|Singular| FS[petite]
    FP -->|Plural| FPP["Add -s<br/>petites"]
    Adj --> Irr{Irregular ending?}
    Irr -->|"-eux"| Eux["-> -euse<br/>heureux/heureuse"]
    Irr -->|"-if"| If["-> -ive<br/>sportif/sportive"]
    Irr -->|"-on / -el"| Dbl["Double consonant + e<br/>bon/bonne"]

---

Pronouns (Les pronoms)

Direct object pronouns

Direct object pronouns replace the direct object of the verb (the thing being acted upon).

Pronoun	English	Example
me / m'	me	Il me voit. (He sees me.)
te / t'	you	Je te comprends. (I understand you.)
le / l'	him / it (m.)	Je le mange. (I eat it.)
la / l'	her / it (f.)	Je la regarde. (I watch it/her.)
nous	us	Elle nous invite. (She invites us.)
vous	you	Je vous attends. (I'm waiting for you.)
les	them	Je les adore. (I love them.)

Position: Before the verb in the present; before the auxiliary in the passé composé.

• Je le mange. — I eat it.
• Je l'ai mangé. — I ate it.

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect object pronouns replace the indirect object (to/for someone).

Pronoun	English
me / m'	to me
te / t'	to you
lui	to him / to her
nous	to us
vous	to you
leur	to them

• Je lui donne le livre. — I give the book to him/her.
• Je leur parle tous les jours. — I speak to them every day.

Relative pronouns

Pronoun	Use	Example
qui	subject (who/which/that)	La fille qui chante est ma sœur. (The girl who sings is my sister.)
que / qu'	object (whom/which/that)	Le film que j'ai vu était bon. (The film that I saw was good.)
où	where / when	La ville où j'habite est jolie. (The town where I live is pretty.)

Exam tip: Using qui and que in your writing and speaking is one of the easiest ways to create complex sentences and boost your grade.

---

Negatives (La négation)

Negative structures wrap around the verb (or the auxiliary in compound tenses).

Structure	Meaning	Example
ne … pas	not	Je ne mange pas de viande. (I don't eat meat.)
ne … plus	no longer / no more	Je ne fume plus. (I no longer smoke.)
ne … jamais	never	Je ne suis jamais allé(e) en France. (I have never been to France.)
ne … rien	nothing	Je ne fais rien. (I do nothing.)
ne … personne	nobody	Je ne vois personne. (I see nobody.)
ne … que	only	Je **n'**ai que cinq euros. (I only have five euros.)
ne … ni … ni	neither … nor	Je **n'**aime ni le thé ni le café. (I like neither tea nor coffee.)
ne … aucun(e)	not a single / no	Il **n'**y a aucun problème. (There is no problem at all.)

In the passé composé

The negative wraps around the auxiliary:

• Je n'ai pas mangé. — I did not eat.
• Elle n'est jamais allée à Paris. — She has never been to Paris.

Exception: personne comes after the past participle: Je n'ai vu personne. — I saw nobody.

---

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives

Structure	Meaning	Example
plus … que	more … than	Paris est plus grand que Lyon.
moins … que	less … than	Le bus est moins rapide que le train.
aussi … que	as … as	Le français est aussi intéressant que l'espagnol.

Superlatives