This list of the most 140 common adjectives in French (with audio) is the perfect place to start expanding your French vocabulary, and it’s very useful when it comes to producing descriptive sentences, which can be used daily.
Table Of Contents
Most Common Adjectives In French
| English | French |
| Able | Capable |
| Active | Actif |
| Aged | Vieil |
| Amazing | Incroyable |
| Angry | énervé |
| Awake | Éveillé |
| Bad | Mauvais |
| Beautiful | Magnifique |
| Best | Meilleur |
| Big | Grand |
| Black | Noire |
| Broken | Cassé |
| Burnt | Brûlé |
| Busy | Occupé |
| Certain | Certain |
| Cheap | pas cher |
| Chic | Chic |
| Clean | propre |
| Clear | Clair |
| Clever | intelligent |
| Closed | Fermé |
| Cold | Froid |
| Comfortable | Confortable |
| Complex | Complexe |
| Cooked | cuisiné |
| Crazy | Fou |
| Dangerous | Dangereux |
| Dark colored | De couleur foncée |
| Dear | Cher |
| Delicious | Délicieux |
| Different | Différent |
| Difficult | Difficile |
| Dirty | Sale |
| Dry | Sec |
| Dumb | Stupide |
| Early | tôt |
| Easy | Facile |
| Economic | Économique |
| Empty | Vide |
| Envious | Envieux |
| Expensive | Cher |
| Famous | Célèbre |
| Far | Loin |
| Fast | Rapide |
| Fat | Gras |
| Free | Gratuit/ libre |
| Full | Complet |
| Funny | Drôle |
| Generous | Généreux |
| Good | Bon |
| Great | Grand |
| Greedy | Cupide |
| Happy | Heureux |
| Hard | Dur |
| Heavy | Lourd |
| High | Élevé |
| Hot | Chaud |
| Human | Humain |
| Important | Important |
| Innocent | Innocent |
| International | International |
| Jealous | Jaloux |
| Kind | Gentil |
| Known | Connu |
| Large | Grand |
| Last | Dernier |
| Late | tard |
| Light | Léger |
| Light colored | De couleur claire |
| Little | Peu |
| Local | Local |
| Low | Faible / bas |
| Major | Majeur |
| Medium | Moyenne |
| Messy | Désordonné |
| Mixed | Mixte |
| Modern | Moderne |
| Much | Beaucoup |
| Mute | Muet |
| Nasty | Méchant |
| National | Nationale |
| Natural | Naturel |
| Naughty | Vilain |
| Necessary | Nécessaire |
| Nervous | Nerveux |
| New | Nouveau |
| Normal | Normal |
| Old | Vieux |
| Open | Ouvert |
| Polite | Poli |
| Political | Politique |
| Popular | Populaire |
| Possible | Possible |
| Pretty | Jolie |
| Public | Public |
| Real | Réel |
| Recent | Récent |
| Respectable | Respectable |
| Right | Droite |
| Rough | Difficile |
| Round | Rond |
| Sad | Triste |
| Salty | Salé |
| Sensitive | Sensible |
| Serious | Sérieux |
| Sharp | Pointu |
| Short | Court |
| Shy | Timide |
| Sick | Malade |
| Silent | Silencieux |
| Similar | Similaire |
| Skillful | Compétent |
| Small | Petit |
| Smart | intelligent |
| Social | Social |
| Soft | Doux |
| Solid | Solide |
| Spacious | Spacieux |
| Special | Spécial |
| Spicy | Épicé |
| Stinky | Puant |
| Strong | Fort |
| Stupid | Stupide |
| Sweet | Doux / sucré |
| Tall/Long | Haut /long |
| Thin | Mince |
| Tight | Serré |
| Tired | Fatigué |
| Traditional | Traditionnel |
| Ugly | Moche |
| Warm | Chaud |
| Weird | Bizarre |
| Wet | Mouillé |
| White | Blanc |
| Whole | Entier |
| Wrong | Faux |
| Young | Jeune |
Note: you can practice what you’ve learned here, and learn how to pronounce each of the words in our Memrise course here, don’t know how to use the platform or sign up? we’ve got you covered in this easy-to-follow tutorial here.
French Adjective Review: Top 140
Short Answer Quiz:
- Translate the following English adjectives to French: happy, big, easy, difficult, new.
- What is the French equivalent of the English adjective “expensive”? How does it differ in usage from the French word for “cheap”?
- Provide the French translations for these adjectives: delicious, spacious, traditional, recent, possible.
- What are the French adjectives for “light” and “dark” when describing color?
- Translate the following sentence to French, paying attention to adjective placement: “The small cat is very cute.”
- How do you say “whole” and “entire” in French? Is there a difference in their usage?
- Provide the French translations for the following adjectives related to senses: stinky, spicy, soft.
- Translate this phrase to French: “a famous and generous chef.”
- What are the French adjectives for “open” and “closed”? How do these relate to adjective agreement?
Answer Key:
- Heureux, grand, facile, difficile, nouveau
- The French word for “expensive” is “cher.” It is used for things of high monetary value. “Pas cher,” meaning “not expensive,” is used to describe things that are cheap or inexpensive.
- Délicieux, spacieux, traditionnel, récent, possible
- Light colored: De couleur claire. Dark colored: De couleur foncée.
- Le petit chat est très mignon.
- Whole: Entier. Entire: Entier. They are often interchangeable.
- Puant, épicé, doux
- Un chef célèbre et généreux
- Open: Ouvert. Closed: Fermé. These adjectives, like most in French, need to agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
Happy learning
Oualid Cheddadi is a language enthusiast who created Lingualid with the mission to inspire independent language learners worldwide, regardless of the language they are learning. The name “Lingualid” is derived from the Portuguese word for “language,” “língua,” and the last three letters of Oualid’s name, “Lid.”
