Adjectives before or after the noun?

Question

When does "fou" come before or after the noun? I was playing with Google Translate to hear in one sentence between "the crazy horse, the crazy cow, the crazy man." It came up "Le cheval fou, la vache folle, l'homme fou."

Accepted Answer

Hi Katherine,
I would say that the adjective 'fou - folle' comes rarely before the noun and in the examples you give it will be after it.
Take a look at this Larousse page which gives you lots of uses for this adjective and only 5. has an example with it before the noun -
J'ai de folles pensées = I have crazy ideas
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/fou/34727#:~:text=Ce%20mot%20a%20deux%20formes,voyelle%20ou%20un%20h%20muet.
 
Hope this helps!

Answer

Generally, fou comes after the noun. But, like almost all adjectives, it can also precede a noun in order to emphasize the individual aspect instead of the general one.

Answer

Remember the acronym BAGS . Generally, adjectives relating to BEAUTY, AGE, GOODNESS, and SIZE (BAGS) come BEFORE the noun. Of course , it’s French, so there are always exceptions, but this acronym will help you in most cases.