Question 1

Why don't the adjectives fort and petit have an -e at the end?

Accepted Answer

Because they are describing le chien (the dog) and le chat (the cat), which are both masculine nouns. You only add an -e for feminine adjective agreement. If we were describing a feminine noun, like la souris (the mouse), we would add the -e and say la souris est petite.

Question 2

Do I pronounce the -t at the end of fort and petit?

Accepted Answer

No, in French, final consonants are usually silent, so you don't hear the -t in these masculine words. However, this is exactly why the feminine agreement rule is so important: when you add an -e to make the feminine forms forte and petite, that extra vowel forces you to pronounce the -t sound!

Question 3

I know chien and chat are the default words for these animals. What if I want to talk about a female dog or cat?

Accepted Answer

If you specifically want to talk about a female animal, the nouns change to feminine: la chienne and la chatte. If you used those in this sentence, your adjectives would also need to change to match them, becoming forte and petite.

Question 4

Is the -s at the end of mais pronounced?

Accepted Answer

No, just like the -t at the end of our adjectives here, the final -s in mais (but) is completely silent. The word sounds very similar to the English month of May.

Le chien est fort, mais le chat est petit.

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