Beau, bel, belle in French: which form means beautiful

Beau, bel, belle, beaux and belles are forms of the same French adjective. They mean “beautiful”, “handsome”, “nice” or sometimes “lovely”. Use beau before a masculine singular noun, belle before a feminine singular noun, beaux before masculine plural nouns and belles before feminine plural nouns. Use bel instead of beau before a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h: un bel appartement.

Beau before masculine singular nouns

Use beau with a masculine singular noun that starts with a consonant sound. Like many short, common French adjectives, it usually comes before the noun.

C’est un beau livre.
It’s a beautiful book.

The same form can mean “nice” rather than visually beautiful: un beau geste is “a nice gesture” or “a beautiful gesture”.

Bel before a vowel or silent h

Use bel when the noun is masculine singular and begins with a vowel sound or a silent h. This is only a sound-based adjustment; it does not make the noun feminine.

Nous avons loué un bel appartement.
We rented a beautiful apartment.

C’est un bel homme.
He’s a handsome man.

Do not use bel with feminine nouns. The feminine form is belle, even before a vowel: une belle idée.

Belle, beaux and belles

Use belle with feminine singular nouns. Use beaux with masculine plural nouns and belles with feminine plural nouns.

Elle a une belle voix.
She has a beautiful voice.

Ce sont de beaux arbres et de belles fleurs.
They are beautiful trees and beautiful flowers.

After des, French often uses de before an adjective that comes before the noun: de beaux arbres, not usually des beaux arbres in careful standard French.

Common mistakes

Using beau before a vowel

For masculine singular nouns that start with a vowel sound, use bel.

un beau appartement -> un bel appartement
a beautiful apartment

Using bel for feminine nouns

Bel is only masculine singular. Feminine nouns take belle.

une bel idée -> une belle idée
a beautiful idea

Forgetting the plural forms

Plural agreement still matters.

de beau villages -> de beaux villages
beautiful villages

Beau belongs to the small group of French adjectives that usually come before nouns. Fluera drills it with real noun phrases, so the next word tells you whether the form should be beau, bel, belle, beaux or belles. Try it when you practice French.

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