Fase III: Diseño de la tolerancia 25 Kaoru Ishikawa:
DESCRIPCIÓN DE ACTIVIDADES DE REVISIÓN REALIZADAS
2. Implementar un curso de capacitación, a ser dictado trimestralmente al personal, durante al menos 3 horas semanales, a fin de que los operarios
1.2. Ventajas e Inconvenientes suscitadas de la aplicación del sistema de Círculos de Calidad
1.2.2. Inconvenientes observados durante la aplicación del proyecto
It should be noted that the definite articles (le, la, les), the indefinite articles (un, une, des), and the Possessive Adjectives (mon, ma, mes) take on the gender and number of the noun with which
they are placed. In like manner, ordinary adjectives like ‘big’, ‘small’, ‘handsome’, etc. do agree in gender and number with the noun that they describe.
Thus, in order to obtain the feminine form of an adjective, we add ‘-e’ to the masculine form.
E.g.
EnglishMasculine Feminine
big/large/tall grand grande
small/short/little petit petite
pretty joli jolie
bad mauvais mauvaise
wicked méchant méchante
black noir noire
all tout toute
green vert verte
grey gris grise
It should be noted also that there are some adjectives which end in the silent or mute ‘e’ in the masculine form (e.g. jeune, young; malade, ill; jaune, yellow). These adjectives have the same form whether they are used with a masculine or a feminine noun. For example, ‘le jeune homme’(the young man)and ‘la jeune femme’(the young woman). Consider the following:
English Masculine Feminine
young jeune jeune
red rouge rouge
near proche proche
fast vite vite
lovely aimable aimable
huge énorme énorme
serious grave grave
easy simple simple
However, when the noun is plural in French, the qualifying adjective must also be in its plural form. For example,
Singular Plural
le petit enfant (the small child) les petits enfants (the small children) le joli tissu (the fine cloth) les jolis tissus (the fine cloths) le mauvais élève (the bad pupil) les mauvais élèves (the bad pupils)
un garçon intelligent (a clever boy) des garçons intelligents (some clever boys) une fille intelligente(a bright girl) des filles intelligentes(some bright girls).
Agreement of Adjectives
The Adjective must always agree in number and gender with the noun or pronoun that it describes or qualifies, e.g.
Le garçon est beau. Il est beau.
(The boy is handsome.) (He is handsome.)
Les garçons sont beaux. Ils sont beaux.
(The boys are handsome.) (They are handsome.) La fille est belle. Elle est belle.
(The girl is beautiful.) (She is beautiful.) Les filles sont belles. Elles sont belles.
(The girls are beautiful.) (They are beautiful.) L’homme est content. Il est content.
(The man is happy.) (He is happy.) Les hommes sont contents. Ils sont contents.
(The men are happy.) (They are happy.) La femme est contente. Elle est contente.
(The woman is happy.) (She is happy.) Les femmes sont contentes. Elles sont contentes.
(The women are happy.) (They are happy.)
Note that an adjective qualifying nouns of mixed gender is made masculine plural, e.g.
Mon oncle et ma tante sont contents. – Ils sont contents.
(My uncle and aunt are happy.) – (They are happy.) Ma mère et ma tante sont contentes. – Elles sont contentes.
(My mother and my aunt are happy.) – (They are happy.) Ton père et ton frère sont là? – Oui, ils sont là.
(Are your father and brother there?) – (Yes, they are there.) Agreement of Adjectives
The Adjective must always agree in number and gender with the noun or pronoun that it describes or qualifies, e.g.
Le garçon est beau. Il est beau.
(The boy is handsome.) (He is handsome.) Les garçons sont beaux. Ils sont beaux.
(The boys are handsome.) (They are handsome.) La fille est belle. Elle est belle.
(The girl is beautiful.) (She is beautiful.) Les filles sont belles. Elles sont belles.
(The girls are beautiful.) (They are beautiful.)
L’homme est content. Il est content.
(The man is happy.) (He is happy.) Les hommes sont contents. Ils sont contents.
(The men are happy.) (They are happy.) La femme est contente. Elle est contente.
(The woman is happy.) (She is happy.) Les femmes sont contentes. Elles sont contentes.
(The women are happy.) (They are happy.)
Note that an adjective qualifying nouns of mixed gender is made masculine plural, e.g.
Mon oncle et ma tante sont contents. – Ils sont contents.
(My uncle and aunt are happy.) – (They are happy.) Ma mère et ma tante sont contentes. – Elles sont contentes.
(My mother and my aunt are happy.) – (They are happy.) Ton père et ton frère sont là? – Oui, ils sont là.
(Are your father and brother there?) – (Yes, they are there.) The Position of Adjectives
Some French Adjectives are placed before the nouns while many others come after the nouns that they qualify. For instance,
a) le petit élève = the small pupil le beau garçon = the handsome boy un grand homme = a tallman
la petite fille = the small girl
la belle maîtresse = the beautiful mistress une grande femme = a tall woman
Some of the French adjectives that come after the nouns that they qualify are as follows:
b) le livre rouge = the red book
un chien méchant = a wicked dog
la voiture française = the French car
une femme charmante = a charming woman
Comparison of Adjectives
In English and French, there are three degrees of comparison, viz. positive, comparative, and superlative. Consider the following examples:
Positive Comparative Superlative
beau (pretty) plus beau (prettier) le plus beau (the prettiest) facile (easy) plus facile (easier) le plus facile (the easiest) gai (merry) plus gai (merrier) le plus gai (the merriest) grand (tall) plus grand (taller) le plus grand (the tallest)
vite (fast) plus vite (faster) le plus vite (the fastest)
ancien (ancient) plus ancien (more ancient) le plus ancien (the most ancient) E.g.
Pierre est beau. (Peter is handsome.)
Eke est plus beau que Pierre. (Eke is more handsome than Peter.) Paul est le plus beau de tous. (Paul is the most handsome of all.) Marie est l’étudiante la plus intelligente de la classe.
(Mary is the most intelligent student in the class.)
Marie et Amadou sont les étudiants les plus intelligents de la classe.
(Mary and Amadu are the most intelligent students in the class.) Adjectifs possessifs (Possessive Adjectives) :
In French, the preposition ‘de’ plus a proper noun indicates possession.
Example:
La voiture de Bola = Bola’s car
Le fils de Monsieur Bankole = Mr. Bankole’s son Les formes des adjectifs possessifs :
Masculine
Singular Feminine Singular Masculine/Feminine
Plural English Meaning
Mon Ma Mes My
Ton Ta Tes Your
Son Sa Ses Her /his
Notre Notre Nos Our
Votre Votre Vos Your
Leur Leur Leurs Their
The possessive adjective agrees in number and gender with the object possessed at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular levels. At the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural levels, they agree with number alone.
Mon livre = My book
Ma règle = My ruler Son bébé = Her/His baby Sa chaise = Her/His chair Ton cahier = Your exercise book Ta table = Your table
Notre maison = Our house Nos maisons = Our houses Votre mère = Your mother Vos mères = Your mothers Leur sœur = Their sister Leurs sœurs = Their sisters
Please note that the possessive adjective does not agree with the possessor.
‘Mon, ton, son’ are used for feminine objects beginning with a vowel or silent ‘h’:
Example:
Mon amie = My friend (female friend)
Mon orange = My orange (feminine object starting with a vowel) Ton église = You church (feminine object starting with a vowel) Son histoire = Her/His story/her or his history (feminine object starting
with a silent ‘h’)
Son ombre = Her/his shadow (masculine object starting with a vowel) Son hôpital = Her/His hospital (masculine object starting with a silent
‘h’)
The possessive adjective is repeated before each object possessed:
J’ai mon cahier d’exercices, mon sac à main et ma gomme.
When only an object is possessed by each person, the singular possessive adjective is used.
Example:
Les étudiants portent leur sac. = The students are carrying their bag.
Nous avons notre stylo. = We have our pen.
The Demonstrative Adjectives
Ce (this), cet(this), cette(this), ces(these):
Ce is used for masculine noun.
Cet is used for masculine noun beginning with a vowel or a silent ‘h’.
Cette is used for a feminine noun when it begins with a vowel or a silent ‘h’.
Ces is used for plural nouns.
Examples:
J’aime ce cahier (masculine noun). = I like this exercise book.
Tu regardes cet arbre (masculine noun). = You look at this tree/
You are looking at this tree.
Il veut cette orange (feminine noun). = He wants this orange.
Elle parle à cette dame (feminine noun). = She speaks to this woman/
She is speaking to this lady.
Vous écrivez cette histoire (feminine noun). = You write this story/history/
You are writing this story/history.
Nous voyons ces tables (plural feminine noun). = We see these tables/We are seeing these tables.
Lesson 7