What are the parts of speech in French?

Nine classes: le nom, le déterminant, l'adjectif, le pronom, le verbe, l'adverbe, la préposition, la conjonction, and l'interjection. French schools call a word's class its nature, and it is fixed by the dictionary rather than by the sentence.

Which French word classes never change form?

Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. They take no gender and no number, so ils courent vite has no s on vite however many people are running. The other five classes all vary.

What is the difference between nature and fonction?

Nature is the word class — chien is always a noun. Fonction is the job the word does in a particular sentence: subject in le chien aboie, object in je vois le chien. French grammar exercises ask for both, and mixing them up makes agreement rules hard to apply.

Why does tout sometimes agree and sometimes not?

Because it belongs to several classes. As a determiner or pronoun it agrees — toutes les places, tous les jours. As an adverb meaning quite it normally does not: elle est tout étonnée. The exception is before a feminine adjective starting with a consonant, where it becomes toute.

How do I tell an adjective from an adverb in French?

Look at what it modifies. If it describes a noun, it is an adjective and must agree: une voiture rapide. If it describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, it is an adverb and stays fixed: elle conduit rapidement. Many words, such as bon, fort, and dur, exist in both classes.

French grammar · Beginner

French Parts of Speech: The Nine Word Classes and Why They Matter

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

French sorts every word into one of nine classes: noun, determiner, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection. The first five change their form to agree with something; the last four never change at all. Knowing which class a word belongs to is what tells you whether it has to agree.

Le petit chien dort tranquillement sous la table.

The little dog is sleeping quietly under the table.

What it is

A word's class — its nature, in French grammar terminology — is fixed by the dictionary, not by the sentence. It determines what the word can do: whether it takes an article, whether it conjugates, whether it agrees in gender and number. Most French agreement errors are really class errors, where a word has been treated as though it belonged to a different family.

Le (determiner) petit (adjective) chien (noun) dort (verb) tranquillement (adverb) sous (preposition) la table (noun).

How to spot it

Two questions identify almost any word: does it change form, and what does it attach to? Adjectives attach to nouns and change; adverbs attach to verbs and do not.

une bonne réponse — a good answer (adjective, agrees)
Elle a bien répondu. — She answered well. (adverb, invariable)
Il travaille avec elle. — He works with her. (preposition + pronoun)
Zut, j'ai oublié ! — Blast, I forgot! (interjection)

French grammar distinguishes a word's nature, which never changes, from its fonction, the job it happens to do in one sentence.

Parts of Speech Quick Reference

The nine classes

Class	French name	Variable?
Noun	le nom — table, courage, Marie	yes: number, and fixed gender
Determiner	le déterminant — le, une, ce, mon, trois	yes: gender and number
Adjective	l'adjectif — grand, bleue, sportifs	yes: gender and number
Pronoun	le pronom — je, le, qui, celui-ci	yes: person, gender, number
Verb	le verbe — parler, être, finira	yes: person, tense, mood
Adverb	l'adverbe — vite, bien, très, hier	no
Preposition	la préposition — à, de, sous, pendant	no
Conjunction	la conjonction — et, mais, que, parce que	no
Interjection	l'interjection — oh, aïe, zut, bof	no

Common Parts of Speech Examples in French

The classes at work, and what changing class does to a word:

The Variable Classes

les grandes villes françaises: the big French cities (determiner + two adjectives, all plural)
Cette décision est définitive.: This decision is final.
Nous les avons vues hier.: We saw them yesterday. (participle agrees with les)
Mon frère et ma sœur arrivent.: My brother and my sister are arriving.

Nouns, determiners, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs all carry marks of gender, number, or person.

The Invariable Classes

Ils courent vite.: They run fast.
Elle est arrivée tôt et repartie tard.: She arrived early and left late.
Le livre est sur la table, sous la lampe.: The book is on the table, under the lamp.
Aïe ! Ça fait mal.: Ouch! That hurts.

Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections never take an s or an e, however plural or feminine the sentence is.

Class Decides Agreement

Ces fleurs sentent bon.: These flowers smell good. (bon is adverbial here, so no s)
Ce sont de bonnes nouvelles.: That's good news. (adjective, feminine plural)
Ils parlent fort.: They speak loudly. (adverb, invariable)
Ce sont des voix fortes.: Those are strong voices. (adjective, agrees)

Bon and fort exist as both adjectives and adverbs. The same letters agree in one class and not in the other.

Determiners Are Not Optional

J'aime la musique.: I like music.
Les chiens aboient.: Dogs bark.
Il boit du café le matin.: He drinks coffee in the morning.
Elle cherche un appartement.: She's looking for a flat.

English allows a bare noun; French almost never does. Nearly every noun needs a determiner in front of it.

How Word Classes Organise French

Five principles turn the list of classes into something you can actually use while writing.

Five Classes Vary, Four Do Not

Nouns, determiners, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs change shape. Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections are frozen. If you are wondering whether to add an s, the first question is which group the word is in.

Les deux petites filles chantent souvent ensemble.

The two little girls often sing together.

Souvent and ensemble can never take an s.

Nature Is Fixed, Function Is Not

Chien is a noun in every sentence, but it can be a subject, an object, or a complement depending on where it sits. French grammar keeps these two ideas separate, and school exercises regularly ask for both.

Le chien mord l'enfant ; l'enfant mord le chien.

The dog bites the child; the child bites the dog.

Same nature, different function.

Adjectives Modify Nouns, Adverbs Modify Everything Else

An adjective describes a noun and copies its gender and number. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, and never changes. This is the single most useful distinction in the list.

Une réponse rapide, donnée rapidement.

A quick answer, given quickly.

Noun → adjective, verb → adverb.

Prepositions Introduce Nouns, Conjunctions Introduce Clauses

This is where French is stricter than English. Avant takes a noun, avant que takes a clause; pendant takes a noun, pendant que takes a clause. English uses the same word for both jobs, so learners forget the que.

Avant le film, nous avons mangé ; avant que le film commence, nous avons mangé.

Before the film we ate; before the film started, we ate.

Preposition + noun, conjunction + clause.

One Word Can Belong to Several Classes

Le is a determiner in le livre and a pronoun in je le vois. Que is a conjunction, a relative pronoun, and an interrogative. The word does not change; the class it is functioning in does, and with it the rules that apply.

Le livre est sur la table ; je le prends.

The book is on the table; I'll take it.

Le the determiner, then le the pronoun.

Common Mistakes with Parts of Speech

Incorrect: Elle chante très bonne. — She sings very well.

Correct: Elle chante très bien. — She sings very well.

Chanter is a verb, so it needs an adverb, not an adjective. Bon describes nouns; bien describes actions, and unlike bon it never agrees.

Incorrect: J'aime musique classique. — I like classical music.

Correct: J'aime la musique classique. — I like classical music.

English uses bare nouns for general statements; French requires a determiner in front of almost every noun, and here it is the definite article.

Incorrect: Ils travaillent durs. — They work hard.

Correct: Ils travaillent dur. — They work hard.

Dur is an adjective in un travail dur but an adverb after travailler. Adverbs are invariable, so the s that would mark the plural has nothing to agree with.

Incorrect: Je cherche pour mes clés. — I'm looking for my keys.

Correct: Je cherche mes clés. — I'm looking for my keys.

Chercher already contains the idea of for, so no preposition is needed. English builds this verb with a particle, and copying it across adds a word French has no use for.

The Chameleon Words

A handful of very common French words move between classes, and each move changes how they behave.

Tout

Tout is a determiner, a pronoun, an adverb, and occasionally a noun. It agrees in the first two roles and is normally invariable as an adverb.

Toutes les places sont prises.: All the seats are taken. (determiner, agrees)
Tout est prêt.: Everything is ready. (pronoun)
Elle est tout étonnée.: She's quite astonished. (adverb)
Il a risqué le tout pour le tout.: He staked everything. (noun)

The adverb does agree in one case: before a feminine adjective beginning with a consonant, as in toute contente.

Que

Que is a conjunction, a relative pronoun, an interrogative pronoun, and part of the restriction ne… que. Each use has different grammar around it.

Je crois qu'il a raison.: I think he's right. (conjunction)
Le film que j'ai vu était long.: The film I saw was long. (relative pronoun)
Que veux-tu ?: What do you want? (interrogative)
Je ne bois que de l'eau.: I only drink water. (restriction)

Only the relative que triggers agreement of a following past participle, because only there is it a direct object.

Plus, même, and le

These three change meaning entirely with their class, and the change is invisible in writing.

Il travaille plus que moi.: He works more than I do. (adverb of quantity)
Il ne travaille plus ici.: He doesn't work here any more. (negative adverb)
Les mêmes erreurs.: The same mistakes. (adjective, agrees)
Même les experts hésitent.: Even the experts hesitate. (adverb, invariable)

With plus, the difference is audible rather than visible: the negative one is pronounced without its final s.

Parts of Speech FAQs

What are the parts of speech in French?: Nine classes: le nom, le déterminant, l'adjectif, le pronom, le verbe, l'adverbe, la préposition, la conjonction, and l'interjection. French schools call a word's class its nature, and it is fixed by the dictionary rather than by the sentence.
Which French word classes never change form?: Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. They take no gender and no number, so ils courent vite has no s on vite however many people are running. The other five classes all vary.
What is the difference between nature and fonction?: Nature is the word class — chien is always a noun. Fonction is the job the word does in a particular sentence: subject in le chien aboie, object in je vois le chien. French grammar exercises ask for both, and mixing them up makes agreement rules hard to apply.
Why does tout sometimes agree and sometimes not?: Because it belongs to several classes. As a determiner or pronoun it agrees — toutes les places, tous les jours. As an adverb meaning quite it normally does not: elle est tout étonnée. The exception is before a feminine adjective starting with a consonant, where it becomes toute.
How do I tell an adjective from an adverb in French?: Look at what it modifies. If it describes a noun, it is an adjective and must agree: une voiture rapide. If it describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, it is an adverb and stays fixed: elle conduit rapidement. Many words, such as bon, fort, and dur, exist in both classes.