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Special adjective forms before a vowel

French pronunciation is famous for flowing smoothly from one word to the next. When a word ends in a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel, French speakers often make a small adjustment to avoid a pause or phonetic hiccup between the words.

For a small group of very common masculine singular adjectives, this means changing their spelling and pronunciation completely. Words like beau, nouveau, and ce transform into bel, nouvel, and cet when placed directly in front of a word starting with a vowel or a mute h. This allows the consonant at the end of the special form to slide naturally into the next word.

Word list
beaumA1 beautiful Before a vowel: bel belmA1 beautiful Before a vowel: bel cemA1 this Before a vowel: cet cetA1 this Before a vowel: cet nouveaumA1 new Before a vowel: nouvel nouvelmA1 new Before a vowel: nouvel vieilmA1 old Before a vowel: vieil vieuxmA1 old Before a vowel: vieil foumA2 crazy Before a vowel: fol tout nouveaumB2 brand new Before a vowel: tout nouvel tout nouvelmB2 brand new Before a vowel: tout nouvel
The core descriptive adjectives

The three most common adjectives that use this special rule are the masculine singular forms for beautiful, new, and old. Instead of their standard forms, you must use bel, nouvel, and vieil before a vowel or mute h.

Quel bel appartement !
(What a beautiful apartment!)
C'est un nouvel élève dans la classe.
(He's a new pupil in the class.)
Mon vieil ami arrive demain.
(My old friend is arriving tomorrow.)

Remember that this only applies to masculine singular nouns. Feminine nouns already have their own forms ending in vowels or silent consonants that trigger a natural liaison, so they do not need a special alternative.

The special word for "this"

The word ce works exactly the same way. When you want to say "this" or "that" before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or mute h, you must use cet.

J'aime beaucoup cet ordinateur.
(I like this computer a lot.)
Cet homme porte un chapeau.
(This man is wearing a hat.)
Watch out

The rule applies strictly to the word immediately following the adjective. If you place an intervening word that starts with a consonant between the adjective and the noun, you revert to the normal form.

C'est un nouveau petit appartement.
(It is a new small apartment.)

However, compound phrases built around these adjectives follow the vowel rule perfectly.

Ils ont construit un tout nouvel hôtel.
(They built a brand new hotel.)

Finally, you might occasionally encounter a few other adjectives with special vowel forms, such as fou (crazy) becoming fol, or mou (soft) becoming mol. These are mostly restricted to literature and fixed expressions, so you will rarely need to use them in everyday conversation.

Il garde un fol espoir.
(He keeps a crazy hope.)
Summary

When a masculine singular noun starts with a vowel or a mute h, change beau to bel, nouveau to nouvel, vieux to vieil, and ce to cet. This allows you to link the words together smoothly without breaking your speaking rhythm.