Modifying Adjectives
Le vocabulaire nouveau
The vocabulary in this topic will help you describe people in a variety of ways, from their nationalities to their personalities. Click on each of the following vocabulary words to hear its proper pronunciation. Repeat each word after the speaker. Practice this until you can pronounce each one without referring to the recording.
| Adjectives of Nationality | |
| French | English |
| africain (m), africaine (f) | African |
| allemand (m), allemande (f) | German |
| américain (m), américaine (f) | American |
| anglais (m), anglaise (f) | English |
| canadien (m), canadienne (f) | Canadian |
| espagnol (m), espagnole (f) | Spanish |
| français (m), française (f) | French |
| italien (m), italienne (f) | Italian |
| québecois (m), québecoise (f) | Quebecers (from Québec) |
While studying the vocabulary above, you may have noticed that the French adjectives of nationality are not capitalized as they are in English. For example:
Français
Cet homme canadien habite à Québec.
Anglais
That Canadian man lives in Quebec.
When these words are used as nouns in French, they are capitalized. For example:
Français
Les Français portent des berets. Quel stéréotype!
Anglais
Frenchmen wear berets. What a stereotype!
French-English Cognates
One of the great things about learning French is that many words have the same roots in English. A cognate is a word that looks similar to a word in another language and means the same thing in both languages. In this activity, you will be presented with a series of words that are French-English cognates. Click the player to begin.
View a printable version of the interactivity.
Modifying Adjectives
Now that you have studied the adjectives of nationality and personality, it is time to learn how to apply these words to different people, places, and things. In this interactivity, you will learn how to modify adjectives in order to appropriately match the nouns being described. Click the player to begin.
View a printable version of the interactivity.
Modifiers
Take a moment to study the following terms. By incorporating these simple modifiers into your writing and your speech, you can easily add more depth to your descriptions. Click on each of the vocabulary words to hear its proper pronunciation, then repeat each word after the speaker. Practice these until you are comfortable pronouncing these words without assistance.
| French | English |
| un peu | a little |
| assez | enough |
| plutôt | rather |
| très | very |
| surtout | above all |
| tout à fait | totally |
| vraiment | really |
Placing one of these modifiers before the adjective communicates to what degree your subject is like the adjective you have chosen. For example:
Français
Marie est plutôt timide mais vraiment sympathique.
Anglais
Mary is rather shy but really nice.
Descriptions of People
In this interactivity, you will listen to a series of audio clips that describe different types of people. After listening to each clip, you will select the person or people that the narrator is describing.
Click the player to begin.
View a printable version of the interactivity.
Modifying Adjectives Review
Now that you have studied the verb être and have seen how it can be applied to describe different types of people, it is time to practice everything you have learned. In this non-graded interactivity, carefully read each sentence and fill in the blank with the appropriate adjective. You will be able to review your answers after you submit them. Click the player to get started.