You know all about adjectives by now, but did you know that there are adjectives that are not really adjectives? Sure, they do function like adjectives, but they’re not adjectives at all.Today, we will take a look at these Faux Adjectives, or Adjectifs Occassionels.
Listen to Track 98
– Les roues arrière sont crevées
– The rear wheels are punctured.
– N’oublie pas de fermer les portes avant.
– Do not forget to close the front doors.
– Allez, tous debout !
– Come on, all stand up!
Let’s start with the best news about this topic: Faux adjectives are invariable, meaning they do not need to agree to the gender and number of the nouns they modify. They remain as they are regardlessof the gender and the number of nouns they are describing. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?
There are three kinds of words that can double as adjectives.
1. Adverbs French adverbs that can function as adjectives include the following :
Listen to Track 99
❑ Bien (nice): Des gens bien (Nice people)
❑ Mal (sick, wrong, bad): Ils sont mal rasés (They are unshaven)
❑ Avant (front): Les phares avant (Headlights)
❑ Arrière (rear, back): Les portes arrière (The rear doors)
❑ Debout (up, standing): Ils sont debout (they are standing)
❑ Allegro (lively, quick) : Les notes se jouent Allegro (The notes are played Allegro)
2. Nouns Some French nouns may also be used to modify another noun. Here are some examples:
Listen to Track 100
la porte sud (the south door)
les câbles vidéo (video cables)
les services web (internet services)
3. PrefixesCertain prefixes can also be used as adjectives. Here are some of them:
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extra (great, high quality): Tu as un look extra (You have an extra look)hyper (to a high degree): C’est hyper beau (It’s really beautiful)maxi (maximum): Je suis maxi balèze (I’m very strong)mini (small, petite): C’est un mini chien (This is a mini dog)super (great): Il est super grand (He is super large)
Listen to Track 102
– La porte sud est super grande !
– The south door is super large!
– Les portes avant de la ville aussi.
– The front doors of the city, too.
– Il y a plein de gens bien ici.
– There are lots of good people here.