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In the headlines: pre- and postnominal adjectives

Learning outcomes

I can use prenominal and postnominal adjectives in the context of news headlines.

I can distinguish and pronounce nasal and oral vowel sounds.

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In the headlines: pre- and postnominal adjectives

Learning outcomes

I can use prenominal and postnominal adjectives in the context of news headlines.

I can distinguish and pronounce nasal and oral vowel sounds.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [em/am] is pronounced like 'temps' and [en/an] sounds like 'enfant' before a consonant.
  2. [em/am] and [en/an] are the same nasal sound before a consonant and different oral sounds before a vowel.
  3. Prenominal adjectives come before the noun they describe. These are Beauty, Rank, Age, Goodness and Size adjectives.
  4. The acronym BRAGS reminds us which adjectives are prenominal.
  5. 'Plusieurs', 'autre' and 'même' are examples of 'Rank' adjectives.

Keywords

  • [em/am] - pronounced as in 'temps'

  • [en/an] - pronounced as in 'enfant'

  • Prenominal adjective - a BRAGS adjective (beauty, rank, age, good/bad or size) that goes before the noun: 'un vieux vélo'

  • Nasal vowel - when pronounced, air passes through both nose and mouth

Common misconception

All adjectives are postnominal in French; they come after the noun.

Most adjectives in French come after the noun but there are a group of prenominal adjectives. We use BRAGS to remember that adjectives of Beauty, Rank, Age, Goodness and Size come before the noun like adjectives in English.

Don't hesitate to exaggerate strongly the difference between nasal and oral vowels. Students might want to put their hand in front of their face to see if they can feel the difference and their fingers on their nose to feel whether it vibrates when nasal sounds are pronounced.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the English and the French
Correct Answer:hôpital,hospital

hospital

Correct Answer:idéal,ideal

ideal

Correct Answer:plusieurs,several

several

Correct Answer:jeu,game

game

Correct Answer:oiseau,bird

bird

Q2.
Which of these is the correct definition for an 'adjective'?
word that gives information about a verb
Correct answer: word that gives information about a noun
word that gives information about a preposition
Q3.
Match the meaning of these adjectives
Correct Answer:belle,beautiful

beautiful

Correct Answer:jeune,young

young

Correct Answer:vieux,old

old

Correct Answer:mauvaise,bad

bad

Correct Answer:petit,small

small

Correct Answer:grande,big

big

Q4.
Complete this sentence with the infinitive form of 'to find': on peut un animal
Correct Answer: trouver
Q5.
Put this sentence in order.
1 - il
2 - y
3 - a
4 - plusieurs
5 - animaux
Q6.
Which of the following is true about adjectives in French?
They always come before the noun.
They always come after the noun.
Correct answer: They usually come after the noun, but some come before.
They are always at the end of the sentence.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word contains a nasal vowel?
ami
Correct answer: enfant
école
idée
Q2.
Match the words to the correct pronunciation rule.
Correct Answer:lampe, penser, enfant,nasal vowel

nasal vowel

Correct Answer:amusant,oral vowel

oral vowel

Q3.
Put the words in the correct order to form a headline.
1 - ils
2 - ont
3 - la
4 - même
5 - voiture
Q4.
Which of these adjectives usually comes before the noun in French?
intelligent
Correct answer: grand
rapide
dangereux
Q5.
What does the acronym BRAGS stand for in French adjective placement?
Correct Answer: beauty rank age goodness size
Q6.
Which one sentence correctly uses an adjective from the 'Rank' category?
J'ai un chat noir.
Il achète une voiture même.
Correct answer: Nous avons plusieurs idées.
Elle mange un gâteau délicieux.

Additional material

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Lesson appears in

UnitFrench / In the news: plural adjectives

French

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