French adjectives in English

English contains a lot of adjectives of French origin. One of the features of these adjectives is that they have come from the feminine version of the French adjective, not the masculine version, which is normally the default.

That’s because the feminine version of any French adjective is usually easier for English speakers to pronounce. It has fewer silent consonants. English speakers are used to pronouncing most consonants, so it disturbs them to have to treat one as silent.

English adjective	French adjective masculine	Masculine pronunciation	French adjective feminine	Feminine pronunciation
favourite	favori	FAH VOR REE	favorite	FAH VOR REET
petite	petit	PEH TEE	petite	PEH TEET
blonde	blond	BLON (silent “n”)	blonde	BLOND (silent “n”)

Other common mistakes

English speakers (anglophones) will often feminise their pronunciation of French adjectives, even when a masculine adjective is necessary. They will often say “première” when they mean “premier,” or “dernière” when they mean “dernier,” or “prochaine” when they mean “prochain.” Or the classic anglophone pronunciation of “blanc” as [BLONK] instead of as [BLON] (silent “n”).

Try not to make those mistakes, because they may confuse whoever is listening to you.

Masculine	Masculine pronunciation	Feminine	Feminine pronunciation
premier	PREM EE AY	première	PREM EE AIR
dernier	DARE NEE AY	dernière	DARE NEE AIR
prochain	PROH SHANN (silent “nn”)	prochaine	PROH SHEN
blanc	BLON (silent “n”)	blanche	BLONSH (silent “n”)

Note: There is a difference between the pronunciation of “blond” and “blanc,” but that is a subject for a future post.