French grammar · A1 · Lesson 4
Where adjectives go: colours and the body
Most French adjectives go after the noun, and colours always do: les cheveux blonds, une barbe noire. A handful of short, everyday adjectives (grand, petit, jeune, joli, beau, bon) go before. To describe someone, French uses avoir + article + body part + adjective: il a les cheveux blonds, “he has blond hair”.
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How does it work?
Most French adjectives come after the noun. This is the single biggest word-order difference you will meet at this level, and the telegram is full of it:
| English | French |
|---|---|
| blond hair | les cheveux blonds |
| the right forearm | l’avant-bras droit |
| a black beard | une barbe noire |
| the black sky | le ciel noir |
Colours, nationalities and shapes always follow the noun: un monsieur italien, une barbe noire. Think of it as French naming the thing first and then giving details, like a police report.
The exceptions are short and very common. A handful of everyday adjectives go before the noun: grand, petit, jeune, joli, beau, bon. Many learners remember them as BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size. You can have both kinds at once: ses grands yeux noirs, “her big dark eyes”, with size before and colour after.
Describing a body. French does not say “his hair is blond” or “he has his blond hair”. It says il a les cheveux blonds: avoir + the article + the body part + the adjective. Who the hair belongs to is already clear from il a, so French does not repeat it. Same pattern: elle a les yeux noirs, il a une blessure au bras droit (au is à + le, “on the”).
Colours agree like any adjective: une barbe noire, des yeux noirs. Watch three of them: blanc becomes blanche; rouge already ends in -e, so it does not change for feminine; gris already ends in -s, so it does not change for plural, les cheveux gris.
What does it look like in the story?
These sentences come from lesson 4, “The telegram”, where the narrator is crossing the Atlantic on the liner Provence with Arsène Lupin hidden among the passengers.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Il a les cheveux blonds. | He has blond hair. |
| Il a une blessure au bras droit. | He has a wound on his right arm. |
| Le monsieur italien a une barbe noire. | The Italian gentleman has a black beard. |
Try it: English says blond hair, right arm, black beard. Where does French put the adjective? And a second question: English says “his hair”, but the French says il a les cheveux blonds. Why “the”?
« Arsène Lupin à votre bord, première classe, cheveux blonds, blessure avant-bras droit, voyage seul, sous le nom de R... »
Arsène Lupin on your ship, first class, blond hair, wound right forearm, travelling alone, under the name of R… Maurice Leblanc, L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin (1905).
How is it different from English?
English puts the adjective first: right arm, blond hair. French usually puts it second: le bras droit, les cheveux blonds. And where English says “his hair”, French says “the hair” after avoir, because the owner is already obvious.
What mistake do English speakers make?
English speakers say ✗ Il a blonds cheveux (English order) or ✗ Il a cheveux blonds (no article). The French is ✓ Il a les cheveux blonds: article, noun, then adjective. And hair is plural: ✗ il a le cheveu blond means he has exactly one blond hair, which is a very different description.
Where can I practise it?
- Lesson 4: The telegram: the story, the rule and interactive exercises, free.
- Review 1: lessons 1 to 5: this point again, in a summary table with the other lessons of the block.
- The A1 glossary: every word of the course, French to English.
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