Indefinite and negative adjectives in French

• Indefinite adjectives are adjectives that are used to describe a noun in a vague, or non-specific, sense.

• Chaque (every) and plusieurs (several) are invariable indefinite adjectives, as they do not change with masculine, feminine or plural nouns.

• Quelque (some), même (same) and autre (other) add an s with plural nouns.

• Tout (everything) changes to toute (feminine singular), tous (masculine plural) or toutes (feminine plural) depending on the quantity and gender of the noun.

• Higher Tier - Aucun(e) is a negative adjective meaning ‘no’, ‘not any’ or ‘not one’ and changes depending on the gender of the noun.

• Higher Tier - Aucun(e) is always preceded by ne and is singular, when there might be a plural noun in English. For example, je n’ai aucune sœur (I have no sisters).

Indefinite adjectives describe a noun in a non-specific sense.

Two useful indefinite adjectives, that are also invariable (meaning they do not change when they are with masculine, feminine or plural nouns) are:

• chaque (every)
• plusieurs (several).

For example:

• Chaque matin, il se lève à sept heures. - Every morning, he gets up at seven o’clock.

• Chaque fille doit porter une jupe bleue au collège. - Every girl has to wear a blue skirt to school.

• Je suis allé à la plage plusieurs fois cette semaine ! - I went to the beach several times this week!

• Il a plusieurs chemises blanches. - He has several white shirts.

Two more useful indefinite adjectives are:

• quelque(s), meaning ‘some’ or ‘any’
• même(s), meaning ‘same’
• autre(s), meaning ‘other’

All of these indefinite adjectives stay the same with masculine and feminine nouns and add an s with plural nouns.

For example:

• Il est végan depuis quelque temps. - He's been vegan for some time.

• J’ai passé quelques jours en Martinique. - I spent some (a few) days in Martinique.

• Il porte toujours le même pantalon. - He always wears the same trousers.

• Elle a acheté les mêmes vêtements que toi ! - She’s bought the same clothes as you!

• J’ai choisi l’autre chanson. - I chose the other song.

• Elle voudrait les autres lunettes, s’il vous plait. - She would like the other glasses, please.

One more very useful indefinite adjective is tout, meaning ‘all’.

Tout comes before the definite article (le, la, les) or possessive article (mon, ma, mes, etc) and changes depending on the quantity and gender of the noun, as follows:

For example:

• Tout le monde aimait le film. – Everyone liked the film.

• Il a travaillé toute la journée. – He worked all day long.

• Ils aiment manger tous les légumes. – They like eating all vegetables.

• J’ai mangé toutes tes frites au café. – I ate all of your chips at the café.

Practise what you've learned about indefinite and negative adjectives in French with this quiz.

The negative adjective aucun/aucune, meaning ‘no’, ‘not one’ or ‘not any’ is used with the word ne, using the same word order as ne … pas (not).

Aucun(e) changes depending on the gender of the noun and is followed by a singular noun, where a plural noun might be used in English.

For example:

• Elle n’a aucun frère. – She doesn’t have any brothers.

• Je n’ai aucune idée. – I don’t have any idea/ideas.

Practise what you've learned about negative adjectives in French for Higher Tier with this quiz.

Now you’ve learned about indefinite and negative adjectives, why not explore position of adjectives in French?