Module 3 of the free French course (CEFR A2, first half), lesson 12 of 30: Some endings transform: -eux becomes -euse (heureux / heureuse, happy), -if becomes -ive (sportif / sportive. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 12.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| heureux | happy (m) | uh-RUH |
| heureuse | happy (f) | uh-RUHZ |
| sportif | sporty (m) | spor-TEEF |
| sportive | sporty (f) | spor-TEEV |
| sérieux | serious (m) | say-RYUH |
| sérieuse | serious (f) | say-RYUHZ |
| actif | active (m) | ahk-TEEF |
| active | active (f) | ahk-TEEV |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
Some endings transform: -eux becomes -euse (heureux / heureuse, happy), -if becomes -ive (sportif / sportive, sporty).
The sound changes too — uh-RUH becomes uh-RUHZ — so your ear learns these pairs as two words that share a heart.
The -eux/-euse and -if/-ive swaps change the SOUND: heureux ends in uh, heureuse in uhz. Say both aloud.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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