Adjective position (BAGS / pre- vs post-nominal)
Summary
Most French adjectives follow the noun, but a small group describing Beauty, Age, Goodness and Size (BAGS) comes before it, and a few change meaning with position.
Explanation
The default position of a French adjective is after the noun, unlike English where it always comes before. Colours, shapes, nationalities, religions, technical and longer adjectives, and any adjective with a complement go after: une voiture rouge, un livre intéressant, un drapeau français, une table ronde. This post-nominal slot is the safe default when you are unsure.
A small set of short, very common adjectives goes before the noun. They are easy to remember with the English acronym BAGS. Beauty (beau, joli), Age (jeune, vieux, nouveau, petit when about age), Goodness (bon, mauvais, meilleur), and Size (grand, petit, gros, haut): un beau jardin, une petite maison, un bon repas, de grandes idées. (Note that before a plural noun des often becomes de: de grandes idées.)
Some adjectives can stand on either side, and their position changes the meaning. The most important are ancien (un ancien collègue = a former colleague vs un meuble ancien = an antique piece), cher (un cher ami = a dear friend vs un repas cher = an expensive meal), grand (un grand homme = a great man vs un homme grand = a tall man), and propre (ma propre chambre = my own room vs une chambre propre = a clean room). Before the noun the sense is figurative; after it, literal.
The main pitfall for English speakers is putting every adjective before the noun, as in une rouge voiture, which is wrong. Rule of thumb: place the adjective after the noun by default; move it before only if it is a short BAGS adjective; and for ancien / cher / grand / propre, choose the side that matches the meaning you want.
Examples
une voiture rougea red carColour adjectives follow the noun.
une petite maisona small houseBAGS adjective (Size): precedes the noun.
un bon repasa good mealBAGS adjective (Goodness): precedes the noun.
un ancien collèguea former colleagueBefore the noun: figurative ('former').
un meuble ancienan antique piece of furnitureAfter the noun: literal ('old, antique').
Common mistakes
C'est une voiture petite.
C'est une petite voiture.
Most French adjectives follow the noun, but a small set of common short adjectives (the BAGS categories: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size: petit, grand, joli, jeune, vieux, bon, mauvais, etc.) go before it. petite describes size, so it must precede voiture: une petite voiture.
Prerequisites
Related rules
adjectivespositionword-order