Regular adjectives are formed by adding an e to the masculine form in the singular (content / contente), or by adding an s to the masculine and feminine forms in the plural (Francisco et Edouard sont contents / Anna et Julia sont contentes).
This group of adjectives is by far the most common. BUT there are also irregular adjectives.
Irregular adjectives do not have the normal -e, -s, or -es endings.
Some adjectives are completely irregular: you just need to memorize them. There are not very many!
masculine feminine translation
doux douce soft
faux fausse false
favori favorite favorite
frais fraîche fresh
long longue long
public publique public
masculine ending feminine ending french english
-el -elle cruel • cruelle cruel
-eil -eille pareil • pareille similar
-il -ille gentil • gentille kind, nice
-on -onne mignon • mignonne cute
-s -sse gros • grosse big, fat
-en -enne ancien • ancienne old
-et -ète secret • secrète secretive
-er -ère cher • chère dear, expensive
-eux -euse heureux • heureuse happy
-eur -euse trompeur • trompeuse deceptive
-teur -trice créateur • créatrice creative
-f -ve actif • active active
-c -che franc • franche frank
-ou -olle fou • folle crazy
Some adjectives have identical masculine and feminine forms. This is generally the case with adjectives ending in e to their masculine form and with foreign adjectives like 'snob', 'cool', etc.
For example: Aman est un homme calme; Maria aussi est calme. Ils sont calmes. (Aman is a calm man; Maria is also calm. They are calm.)
The majority of adjectives are regular in the plural; an -s is added to the singular masculine or feminine forms.
There are two major exceptions to this rule:
Adjectives that end in S or X. The masculine singular and plural forms are identical: un animal heureux (a happy animal), des animaux heureux (happy animals).
However, the feminine plural form of these adjectives is regular; it is formed by simply adding an s to the feminine singular form: une fille heureuse (a happy girl), des filles heureuses (happy girls).
Adjectives ending in al in the masculine singular form change to aux in the masculine plural form.
pauvre (poor) mince (slim)
difficile (difficult) minuscule (tiny)
sensible (sensitive) ridicule (ridiculous)
riche (rich) propre (clean)
calme (calm) ironique (ironic)
semblable (similar) imaginaire(imaginary)