Adjectives that PRECEDE the Noun they Describe The Big B.A.N.G.S. Adjectives that PRECEDE the Noun they Describe

It’s more than just a theory… It’s the LAW! Find out how and why

Qui? Think about a family member or classmate that you know well. How would you describe this person? Intelligent, young, kind, handsome or pretty, tall or short??? Answer the following questions in space provided in your study packet:

une description C’est une fille ou un garçon? Quel âge a-t-il / a-t-elle? Comment est-il / est-elle? Donnez 7-10 adjectifs français pour décrire cette personne: 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. *Make sure to use the correct gender of adjectives to avoid insult and embarrassment*

écrire Maintenant, using the adjectives that you have come up with, write several short descriptive phrases about this person. Par exemple, prenons: ROY Ce n’est pas un garçon gentil. Roy est un élève méchant. Il est jeune et petit. Il est brun.

un adjectif normal When you wrote these short phrases, where did you put the adjective that described the person? Before or after the noun? Where do must adjectives go in French? Circle the correct phrase for each set in your packet: Une fille intelligente / une intelligente fille Un homme anglais / un anglais homme La voiture violette / la violette voiture Le livre intéressant / le intéressant livre Mes voisines chinoises / mes chinoises voisines

un adjectif normal So, where to most adjectives go in terms of the word that they are describing? Behind it, of course! You should have circled the phrase on the left side of the / mark for each exercise. Is this adjective placement similar to English? NOPE! Sounds simple, enough, right? Nothing you didn’t already know.

Mais… Just when you thought it was safe to nail down a solid grammatical rule in the French language… Nine (and sometimes more!) exceptions rear their ugly heads! Oui! There are basically nine adjectives that precede the noun they modify! Disclaimer: There are other adjectives that precede the noun in addition to the adjectives we are discussing today, but we’ll save that study for French II – IV.

the nature of the beasts To make things easier, let’s just focus on the nine little monsters that surfaced last slide. Fortunately, these monsters are easily tackled and placed into categories, which makes identification much simpler. The grammar police have come up with a special acronym to assist regular civilians. This acronym is best known as…

B.A.N.G.S. B = beauty (2 adjectives) A = age (2 adjectives) N = newness (1 adjective) G = goodness (2 adjectives) S = size (2 adjectives) NOTE: not all adjectives that are used to describe these features are part of the BANGS adjectives. Rather, it is just a simple way of categorizing the adjectives that DO come before the noun they are describing.

B.A.N.G.S. BANGS = adjectives that precede the noun that they are describing. Actually, you already know most of them! In your study packet, list the adjectives that you think might fit under each category. Remember, there are 9 total. To keep it simple, just list the masculine singular forms.

B.A.N.G.S. B Beauty A Age N Newness G Goodness S Size

B.A.N.G.S. So, providing you didn’t already jump ahead to the next few slides, check your guesses with the teacher and see how you did.

B.A.N.G.S. and all their forms While classifying these monsters can be fairly simple, getting a grip on them can be a little more challenging because they morph into many forms. Each adjective has at least 3 forms For describing masculine singular nouns (m.s.) For describing feminine singular nouns (f.s.) For describing masculine plural nouns (m.pl.) For describing feminine plural nouns (f.pl.)

Mastering the Forms Enclosed in your packet is a chart where you can write in all of the forms for each adjective Go ahead and fill in as much as possible. Don’t worry about the prounciations just yet. Once you are finished, check with the teacher to see if you have the correct answers.

la prononciation Once you have verified your adjectives, get the pronunciations by going to this site and click on the three listening portions marked by a underneath the picture shown below: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/adj3.html In your chart, write in any pronunciations you do not already know or that you think you might forget in the future.

The Tricksters – Group 1 Did you notice that for three of the adjectives, there are TWO masculine singular forms? Write the masculine forms of these adjectives in your study packet: a. _________ , _________ b. _________ , _________ c. _________ , _________ If you look closely at the top of your chart, you’ll see a small notation indicating the purpose of the second masculine singular adjective. What is it? Write the answer in your packet.

The Tricksters – Group 1 (con’t) The second m.s. form is for describing masculine singular nouns that start with a vowel sound. Can you think of any examples? Write a few down in your packet. Did you think of: homme ami ordinateur élève (m.s.) étudiant All the words above start with a vowel sound. In order to make French sound a little prettier, special adjectives were invented to use in front of these masculine singular nouns that start with a vowel sound.

The Tricksters – Group 1 (con’t) Voici des exemples: [bell] [vee-yay] [nooh-vell] Beautiful/handsome (good-looking) Old New Un bel homme Un vieil homme Un nouvel homme Un bel étudiant Un vieil étudiant Un nouvel étudiant Un bel ami Un vieil ami Un nouvel ami Un bel ordinateur Un vieil ordianteur Un nouvel ordinateur

The Tricksters – Group 2 Got it? The adjectives of that particular group can sneak up on and get by you pretty easily if you’re not paying attention. Now for the second group: masculine singular and plural adjectives. Did you notice that some of the adjectives have the exact same form for describing masculine singular (m.s.) and masculine plural (pl.) words? What are they? Write them down in your packet. 1. 2.

The Tricksters – Group 2 (con’t) Those adjective forms aren’t quite as difficult, as we already know some other adjectives that do the same thing. (most of them being nationalities) Do you remember any? List three other adjectives that have the same form for masculine singular and masculine plural. 1. 2. 3.

Recap – B.A.N.G.S. Please review by writing down the answers to the following questions in your packet: What’s special about the BANGS adjectives? (Why have we specially classified them? ) What are the two groups of tricksters? What is special about each group of tricksters?

les exercices The exercises are given in your packet. Arrive at the correct answer (and write it down of course!) by answering the following questions each time: 1. What is the adjective? 2. What is the adjective expressing? 3. Is it expressing any of the BANGS characteristics? 4. Is this word actually a BANGS adjective? 5. Am I describing a singular or plural word? If singular, does it start with a vowel sound? 6. Am I describing a masculine or feminine noun?

encore Try out these slightly more difficult exercises and record how you did in your activity packet. For the adjectives that you are unfamiliar with, be sure to read the topmost portion of the page to help you out. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/adj3.html If you don’t know what a French word means, use context clues to help you or go to : http://www.freetranslation.com (for simple phrases only, not full sentences)