Vieux, vieil, vieille in French: the forms of old

Vieux, vieil, vieille, vieux and vieilles are forms of the French adjective for “old”. Use vieux before a masculine singular noun that starts with a consonant, vieil before a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h, and vieille before a feminine singular noun. In the plural, vieux is also the masculine plural form, and vieilles is feminine plural.

Vieux before masculine nouns

Use vieux with masculine singular nouns that start with a consonant sound. It usually comes before the noun.

C’est un vieux quartier de Paris.
It’s an old neighborhood of Paris.

Vieux can describe age, but it can also mean “old” as in familiar, long-known, or no longer new.

Vieil before a vowel or silent h

Use vieil before a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel sound or a silent h.

Il parle avec un vieil ami.
He is talking with an old friend.

C’est un vieil hôtel.
It’s an old hotel.

The noun is still masculine. Vieil is only the sound-friendly form before the next vowel.

Vieille and vieilles

Use vieille for feminine singular nouns and vieilles for feminine plural nouns.

J’ai trouvé une vieille lettre.
I found an old letter.

Elle garde de vieilles photos.
She keeps old photos.

Because vieux already ends in x, the masculine singular and masculine plural look the same: un vieux film, de vieux films.

Common mistakes

Using vieux before a vowel

Use vieil before a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel sound.

un vieux ami -> un vieil ami
an old friend

Using vieil with feminine nouns

Feminine nouns use vieille, not vieil.

une vieil maison -> une vieille maison
an old house

Adding another plural ending to vieux

The masculine plural form is already vieux.

de vieuxs films -> de vieux films
old films

Vieux behaves like beau and nouveau: it normally comes before the noun and has a special masculine vowel form. Fluera trains these adjective families in parallel noun phrases, so you see the pattern instead of memorizing one word at a time. Try it when you practice French.

Practice