Adjectives after personne, rien, tout le monde, quelqu'un are always masculine in French

Take the fastest path to fluent French

 

Learn how to use adjectives with "personne", "rien", "tout le monde", "quelqu'un" in French

Look at these four cases:

Rien n'est gratuit.Nothing is free.

Personne n'est heureux.No one is happy.

Tout le monde est joli.Everyone is pretty.

Quelqu'un est petit.Someone is small.

Note that when an adjective (describing word) refers to rien (nothing), personne (nobody)tout le monde (everybody) or quelqu'un (someone), it's always in the masculine form, even if what they describe is feminine.

Attention:
Do not mix up the pronoun personne (nobody) and the feminine noun une personne (a person) which requires a feminine adjective:

Personne n'est patient.Nobody is patient.

Cette personne est patiente.This person is patient.

 

See also the following lesson on the use of personne and rien:
Personne ne ..., rien ne ... = No one, nothing (negation) in French

 

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Personne n'est patient.Nobody is patient.
Cette personne est patiente.This person is patient.

personne


Personne n'est heureux.No one is happy.

quelqu'un


Quelqu'un est petit.Someone is small.

rien


Rien n'est gratuit.Nothing is free.

tout le monde


Tout le monde est joli.Everyone is pretty.
Let me take a look at that...