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 rouge — a red car (Colour adjectives follow the noun.)
une petite maison — a small house (BAGS adjective (Size): precedes the noun.)
un bon repas — a good meal (BAGS adjective (Goodness): precedes the noun.)
un ancien collègue — a former colleague (Before the noun: figurative ('former').)
un meuble ancien — an antique piece of furniture (After 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