Thursday, November 7, 2019
French Numerical Adjectives - Adjectifs numéraux
French Numerical Adjectives - Adjectifs numà ©raux In the  French language, numerical adjectives arent as complicated as they might sound - numerical adjective is simply the grammatical term for numbers. There are three types of numerical adjectives, each used for a different purpose - see table at the bottom of the page. Placement of Numerical Adjectives Cardinal numerical adjectives precede the noun they modify, as well as any other adjectives (numerical or not) that precede the noun.    Jai deux livres.   I have two books.   Il a achetà © une nouvelle voiture.   He bought a new car.   les trois premiers jours   the first three daysOrdinal numerical adjectives, multiplicatives, and the fraction demi usually precede the noun they modify:   Cest le deuxià ¨me jour.   Its the second day.   Il veut un double whisky.   He wants a double whiskey.   Jy vais dans une heure et demie.   Im going in an hour and a half.Fractions, other than demi, require the following format in front of nouns: article/number fraction de:   Jai regardà © un tiers du film.   I watched a third of the movie.   Il a bu deux cinquià ¨mes de la bouteille.   He drank two fifths of the bottle.  Agreement of Numerical Adjectives Only a few numerical adjectives agree with the nouns they modify.1. Cardinal numbers - all invariable, except for one:   un homme (one man) / une femme (one woman)     vs   deux hommes (two men) / deux femmes (two women)2. Ordinal numbers - First is variable. The rest are invariable, but note that if preceded by a definite article, it must match the gender of the noun:   le premier livre (the first book) / la premià ¨re peinture (the first painting)     vs   le deuxià ¨me livre (the second book) / la troisià ¨me bouteille (the third bottle)3. Multiplicative numbers are all invariable.4. Fractions - demi can be masculine or feminine, while the others can be singular or plural:   un demi kilo (half a kilo) / une demie bouteille (half a bottle)     vs   un quart (one fourth) / trois quarts (three fourths) Types of Numerical Adjectives Name Used for Examples Cardinal numbers Counting un, deux, trois Ordinal numbers Ranking premier, deuxime, troisime Multiplicative numbers Multiplying simple, double, triple Fractions Dividing un demi, un tiers, un quart *Fractions, with the exception of demi, are nouns rather than adjectives, but it makes sense to include them with the other types of numbers.Technically, numerical adjectives are not adjectives at all - they are a mathematical feature which, grammatically, act more or less like adjectives.
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