That's one of the main differences between English and French: in French, adjectives (small, nice, cheap...) agree in gender and number with the thing or person they refer to. Therefore, they will be either masculine or feminine, and either singular or plural, just like nouns.
Let's see how you pluralise simple adjectives:
un grand bol mais trois grands bols
a big bowl but three big bowls
une voiture verte et deux voitures vertes
a green car and two green cars
la femme française mais les femmes françaises
the French woman but the French women
un homme fort et des hommes forts.
a strong man and strong men
Case of mixed gender:
Paul est petit, Sylvia est petite : ils sont petits.
Paul is short, Sylvia is short : they are short.
Ma mère et mon père sont intéressants.
My mum and dad are interesting.
See also:Make most adjectives feminine by adding -e
and the more advanced: Adjectives ending in -s or -x only change their feminine forms when plural
Examples and resources
une voiture verte et deux voitures vertes
a green car and two green cars
Paul est petit, Sylvia est petite : ils sont petits.
Paul is short, Sylvia is short : they are short.
un grand bol mais trois grands bols
a big bowl but three big bowls
un homme fort et des hommes forts.
a strong man and strong men
"Plurals in French" by www.frenchspanishonline.com
la femme française mais les femmes françaises
the French woman but the French women
Ma mère et mon père sont intéressants.
My mum and dad are interesting.
for an all female class
Ma sœur est intelligente. - Mes copines sont intelligentes aussi.
My sister is clever. - My girlfriends are clever too.
for boys or a mixed group
Mon élève est intelligent. - Mes élèves sont intelligents aussi.
My student is clever. - My students are clever too.
Q&A
Ron
Kwiziq community member
31/05/17
des hommes français (some french men)
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
1/06/17
You can also simply use "les Français" as a noun to say "the French (men)", and "les Françaises" for "the French (women)".
See our related lesson:
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/how-to-express-your-nationality-changes-whether-youre-a-man-or-a-woman-adjectives
Bonne journée !
Autumn
Kwiziq community member
24 May 2018
1 reply
Adjective before and/or after its noun
Why does an adjective sometimes come before the noun it modifies, and other times it comes after?
ex. "un grand bol..." (adjective coming before)
"une voiture verte..." (adjective coming after)
Chris
Kwiziq community member
25 May 2018
25/05/18
Hi Autumn,
as with many topics in language learning, there is no explication except: that's the way it is.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).