Learn French: Nous cherchons un mauvais chemin difficile. - We are looking for a bad, difficult path.

Nous cherchons un mauvais chemin difficile.

We are looking for a bad, difficult path.

Breakdown of Nous cherchons un mauvais chemin difficile.

a / an (masculine)

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous cherchons un mauvais chemin difficile.

Why does mauvais come before the noun, but difficile comes after?

Most French adjectives go after the noun they describe, which is why difficile comes after chemin. However, a small group of common adjectives describing Beauty, Age, Goodness, or Size go before the noun. Mauvais means bad, which fits into the Goodness category, so it goes in front!

The English translation says "looking for", but where is the word for "for" in French?

The French verb chercher already means to look for or to seek. Because the concept of "for" is built right into the verb, nous cherchons covers the whole phrase. Adding a word like pour here is a common beginner mistake that would sound like "we are looking for for."

Do I pronounce the "s" at the end of mauvais?

No, the "s" is silent here. In French, a final consonant is usually only pronounced if the next word begins with a vowel sound, which creates a link called a liaison. Since chemin starts with a consonant sound, the "s" in mauvais stays silent.

Would these adjectives change if the noun we were looking for was feminine?

Yes, but only one of them! To make mauvais feminine, you add an "e" to the end, making it mauvaise. However, because difficile already ends in an "e", its spelling stays exactly the same for both masculine and feminine nouns.