Français — the special forms beau/nouveau/vieux

Three common adjectives — beau (beautiful), nouveau (new) and vieux (old) — take a special masculine singular form, bel, nouvel and vieil, when the following masculine noun begins with a vowel or a mute h.

How it works

✓ Rule

Before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or mute h, use bel, nouvel, vieil instead of beau, nouveau, vieux: un bel homme, un nouvel appartement, un vieil arbre. Before a consonant the ordinary forms stay: un beau jardin, un nouveau livre, un vieux mur. The feminine (belle, nouvelle, vieille) and the plural are unaffected by this switch.

Examples

The three adjectives across masculine, vowel-form and feminine
Masculine + consonant	Masculine + vowel / mute h	Feminine
un beau jardin	un bel homme	une belle maison
un nouveau livre	un nouvel ami	une nouvelle idée
un vieux mur	un vieil arbre	une vieille ville
de beaux jardins	de beaux hommes	de belles maisons

Good to know

⚠ Note

The vowel-form is only for the masculine singular directly before its noun. In the plural you keep beaux, nouveaux, vieux (the liaison is heard, but the spelling does not change): un bel arbre but de beaux arbres. And when the adjective comes after the noun, no special form is needed: cet arbre est vieux, not vieil.