Grade by Grade
C–D. Reading and Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Voices, Stories and Communities

Le portrait : Reading a Character Description and Mastering Adjectives

C1.2 C1.4 C2.2 D1.2 D1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can find what a novel excerpt tells me about each character, including what it shows without saying it.
  • I can make adjectives agree in gender and number, including irregular forms (curieuse, créative, fière, longue, gentille, beaux, loyaux).
  • I can place adjectives correctly, using BAGS and the special forms bel, nouvel, vieil.
  • I can explain how the meaning of ancien, cher, propre and grand changes with their position.
  • I can write a vivid portrait of a character using at least eight well-placed adjectives.

Words to know

un portrait
A description of a person: how they look, act and feel.
un extrait
An excerpt: a short passage taken from a longer text, like a novel.
un adjectif qualificatif
A describing word that tells what a noun is like (curieux, rouge).
accorder
To make agree: the adjective takes the gender and number of its noun.
montrer plutôt que dire
Show, don't tell: let actions and details reveal a feeling instead of naming it.
un personnage
A character in a story (always masculine: Léa est un personnage drôle).
le narrateur / la narratrice
The voice that tells the story.

Meet the characters

Novels make us care about people who don't exist. Authors do it with portraits: carefully chosen details about how characters look and act. In French, those details depend on adjectives, and adjectives come with rules: they agree with the noun and they have a place in the sentence.

Remember from earlier grades: you know that adjectives add -e for feminine and -s for plural (un sac bleu, une veste bleue, des sacs bleus), and you have met beau, bel, belle. In Grade 9 you will master the irregular patterns and learn why some adjectives move.

Worked example

Let's read a novel excerpt and build each portrait

**Extrait du roman Le dernier autobus** (a short novel opening written for this lesson)

Le dernier autobus de la soirée roule lentement sous la neige. À l'avant, le chauffeur, un homme grand aux cheveux gris, chante une vieille chanson. Derrière lui est assise une femme élégante. Elle porte un long manteau rouge et de beaux gants de cuir. Elle a l'air sérieuse et un peu nerveuse : elle regarde sans cesse sa montre.

Au fond de l'autobus, Léo, un garçon de quinze ans, écoute de la musique. C'est un adolescent curieux et créatif, mais il est souvent distrait. Ce soir, pourtant, il remarque tout : la femme élégante, le vieil homme qui dort près de la fenêtre et le nouvel élève de sa classe, assis seul, qui serre un sac bleu contre lui.

« Quelle nuit bizarre », pense Léo.

Glossaire : rouler = to drive along · le chauffeur = the driver · aux cheveux gris = with grey hair · de cuir = leather · avoir l'air = to look, to seem · sans cesse = constantly · au fond de = at the back of · distrait = absent-minded · pourtant = however · serrer = to hold tightly

  1. Setting: last bus of the evening, in the snow, moving slowly. The setting already feels quiet and a little mysterious.
  2. The driver: un homme grand aux cheveux gris (tall, grey hair), and he sings an old song. He seems calm and relaxed.
  3. The woman: élégante, a long red coat, beautiful leather gloves; she looks serious and nervous. How do we know she is nervous? She constantly checks her watch. The author shows it with an action.
  4. Léo: 15, curieux, créatif, souvent distrait (curious, creative, often absent-minded). The word pourtant (however) tells us tonight is different: he notices everything.
  5. The mystery: a new student sitting alone, holding a blue bag tightly. The verb serre shows he is protecting something or is nervous. We want to read on!
  6. Adjective agreement check: élégante, sérieuse, nerveuse agree with femme (feminine). curieux, créatif, distrait agree with Léo (masculine). beaux gants is masculine plural.

Four main characters (plus an old man asleep by the window), each drawn with a few adjectives and one telling action: the calm singing driver, the elegant nervous woman, the curious Léo, and the mysterious new student. The author shows feelings (checking a watch, gripping a bag) instead of only naming them.

Irregular feminine forms

Many adjectives don't simply add -e. Learn them by their endings: if you know curieux → curieuse, you also know nerveux, sérieux, heureux, courageux.

Adjectives that already end in -e don't change: un garçon calme, une fille calme. But -é still adds -e: fatigué → fatiguée.

Masculine endingFeminine endingExamples
-eux-eusecurieux → curieuse, nerveux → nerveuse, sérieux → sérieuse
-if-ivecréatif → créative, sportif → sportive, actif → active
-er-èrefier → fière, cher → chère, premier → première
-el / -eil (and gentil)-elle / -eille (gentille)naturel → naturelle, cruel → cruelle, pareil → pareille, gentil → gentille
-en / -on-enne / -onnecanadien → canadienne, bon → bonne
-et-ette (most) / -ète (a few)muet → muette, violet → violette; inquiet → inquiète, complet → complète, secret → secrète
-c-che / -queblanc → blanche, franc → franche; public → publique
one of a kindlong → longue, doux → douce, faux → fausse, frais → fraîche, beau → belle, nouveau → nouvelle, vieux → vieille
Irregular feminine forms grouped by ending. Fier (proud) is used for people: Elle est fière de son équipe.

Irregular plural forms

  • Adjectives ending in -s or -x don't change in the masculine plural: des cheveux gris, des garçons curieux.
  • -eau → -eaux: beau → beaux, nouveau → nouveaux.
  • -al → -aux: loyal → loyaux, normal → normaux, national → nationaux (but final → finals, banal → banals).
  • The feminine plural is regular: just add -s to the feminine: loyales, nouvelles, curieuses.

Formal writing rule: when a plural adjective comes before the noun, des usually becomes de: de beaux gants, de bonnes idées. Compare des gants rouges (adjective after).

Where does the adjective go?

In French, most adjectives go after the noun, unlike English: un manteau rouge, une femme élégante, un élève canadien. Colours, nationalities and shapes are always after.

A small group of very common adjectives go before the noun. Remember them with BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size.

BAGS : ces adjectifs vont AVANT le nomB = Beautébeau, joliun joli villageA = Âgejeune, vieux, nouveauune vieille chansonG = Bonté (goodness)bon, mauvaisune bonne idéeS = Taille (size)grand, petit, gros, longun long manteau
BAGS adjectives (beauty, age, goodness, size) go before the noun. Almost all other adjectives go after: un manteau rouge.

Bel, nouvel, vieil

Before a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel or a mute h, three BAGS adjectives use a special form so the words flow:

  • beau → bel: un bel arbre, un bel hiver
  • nouveau → nouvel: le nouvel élève
  • vieux → vieil: un vieil homme

They sound exactly like the feminine (belle, nouvelle, vieille). In the plural, use the normal plural with a liaison: de beaux arbres (sounds like beau-z-arbres).

When position changes meaning

A few adjectives mean something different before and after the noun. Before, the meaning is usually more figurative or emotional; after, it is more literal. Authors use this on purpose, so careful readers watch for it.

Avant ou après le nom ? Le sens change !ancienmon ancienne école = my former schoolune maison ancienne = an old housecherchère Amélie = dear Amélieun vélo cher = an expensive bikeproprema propre chambre = my own roomune chambre propre = a clean roomgrand (personne)un grand homme = a great manun homme grand = a tall man
Same adjective, different place, different meaning. In the excerpt, un homme grand means a tall man; un grand homme would mean a great man.
Worked example

Let's write a portrait that shows, not just tells

Write a 5-sentence portrait of the new student from the bus, using at least eight adjectives, including one BAGS adjective, one irregular feminine or plural form, and one action that shows a feeling.

  1. Decide the impression: the student is shy but brave, and the bag holds something important.
  2. Appearance (adjectives after the noun): Il a les cheveux noirs et des yeux sombres. (noirs agrees with cheveux, masculine plural.)
  3. BAGS adjectives: Il porte un vieux blouson et de grosses bottes d'hiver. (vieux and grosses are BAGS; gros → grosse doubles the s; de before the plural grosses.)
  4. Personality with irregular forms: Il a l'air timide et inquiet, mais aussi courageux. (Masculine, because the text says le nouvel élève.)
  5. Show, don't tell: Quand l'autobus freine, il serre son sac bleu encore plus fort. The action shows that the bag matters to him.
  6. Count and check agreement: noirs, sombres, vieux, grosses, timide, inquiet, courageux, bleu = 8 adjectives, each agreeing with its noun.

Le nouvel élève est assis seul. Il a les cheveux noirs et des yeux sombres. Il porte un vieux blouson et de grosses bottes d'hiver. Il a l'air timide et inquiet, mais aussi courageux. Quand l'autobus freine, il serre son sac bleu encore plus fort.

(Un blouson = a jacket; freiner = to brake. If your character were a girl: la nouvelle élève, assise seule, timide et inquiète, mais aussi courageuse.)

Just for fun

Careful with position: un homme grand is just tall, but un grand homme is a great man. So the tallest player on your basketball team is not automatically un grand homme... unless he also shovels his neighbours' driveways.

Hands-on activity

Portrait from a photo

You need: a family photo, a picture from a magazine or flyer, or a favourite character from a book or show; paper and a pencil.

  1. Choose one person or character. Write 6 adjectives for appearance and 4 for personality in a two-column list. Write both the masculine and feminine forms.
  2. Circle the BAGS adjectives. Draw an arrow showing they go before the noun.
  3. Write one sentence that shows a personality trait through an action, without naming the trait (instead of Il est généreux, write Il partage toujours son lunch).
  4. Write a 6-sentence portrait. Read it to someone at home and ask them to guess the trait you showed.

Look for: correct agreement (check every adjective against its noun), BAGS adjectives before the noun, bel/nouvel/vieil before a vowel, and one strong action.

Your turn

1

In the excerpt, what is the weather like?

2

Describe the driver using two details from the text.

3

How do we know the woman is nervous, besides the word nerveuse?

4

Give three adjectives that describe Léo and translate them.

5

Why is it le vieil homme and not le vieux homme?

6

Find the phrase with de instead of des and explain why.

7

What makes the new student mysterious?

More practice: warm-up

1

Feminine of sportif?

2

Feminine of heureux?

3

Masculine plural of nouveau?

4

Before or after the noun: une voiture (rouge)?

5

Feminine of gentil?

More practice: on your own

1

Complete with beau in the right form: un ____ hiver, une ____ journée, de ____ arbres.

2

Make the whole phrase feminine: un ami loyal et fier.

3

Make it plural: un résultat normal.

4

Put the adjectives in the right places: (petit, blanc) un chat.

5

Translate: C'est ma propre idée, mais ma chambre n'est pas propre !

Challenge

1

Translate into French: My former teacher bought an expensive old car. (Think about the position of each adjective.)

2

Rewrite to show instead of tell, in French: Le chauffeur est très fatigué.

3

Find and fix the four errors: Ma sœur est une fille créatif et curieux. Elle porte des nouvelles bottes blanc.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is correct?

2.

Le ______ élève s'appelle Karim.

3.

Which adjective normally goes before the noun?

4.

Mon ancienne école means...

5.

Choose the correct plural: des chiens ______

6.

In the excerpt, how does the author show that the woman is nervous?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Your child reads a novel excerpt and builds character portraits from details (C1.2), learns descriptive vocabulary (C1.4), notices an element of style, show, don't tell (C2.2), and writes a portrait using correct adjective forms and placement (D1.2, D1.3).

How to help:

  • Play Devine qui ? (Guess who?): describe a family member or a famous Canadian with three French adjectives; your child must make each one agree.
  • Point at objects and ask for noun + colour + BAGS adjective: un petit sac noir, une grande tasse blanche.

Common difficulties:

  • Putting adjectives before the noun as in English (un rouge manteau). Only BAGS adjectives usually go first.
  • Forgetting agreement on adjectives far from the noun: Elle a l'air sérieuse.
  • Bel, nouvel, vieil: they are masculine forms, used only before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h.
  • des → de before a plural adjective is a written, formal rule; in casual speech many people still say des.

Note: avoir l'air + adjective: the adjective can agree with the person (Elle a l'air sérieuse), which is what we teach here; some writers make it agree with air (masculine). Both are accepted.