Cet jeune homme - French Mistake

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong: Cet jeune homme

Right: Ce jeune homme

Explanation: Six French adjectives have a special form to be used only in front of masculine nouns that begin with a vowel or mute h, as in cet homme. However, you can only use the special form if the adjective is actually right in front of that noun. In the case of "this young man," jeune is the word that you are putting "this" in front of, not homme. Since jeune begins with a consonant, you have to use the regular masculine adjective: ce jeune homme.

On the other hand, for a noun like médecin, you normally use ce: ce médicin. But if another adjective that begins with a vowel or mute h follows ce, you need to switch to the special adjective: cet ancien médecin.

The thing to remember is that it's not necessarily the first letter of the noun that matters, but the first letter of the word that actually follows the potential special form.

Related lessons: Adjectives with special forms | Position of French adjectives | Mute h