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Mon frère est actif, mais ma sœur est paresseuse.

Mon frère est actif, mais ma sœur est paresseuse.
My brother is active, but my sister is lazy.
From Lesson 77:Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)·French

Questions & Answers about Mon frère est actif, mais ma sœur est paresseuse.

Why does the French word for lazy end in "-euse" here?
Because it describes ma sœur (my sister), which is a feminine noun. Adjectives that end in -eux in their masculine form, like paresseux, change their ending to -euse when describing a feminine noun.
If we were talking about the sister being active, would the word be "actife"?
No, it would be active. For adjectives that end in -f in the masculine form (like actif), you must change the -f to -ve to make them feminine.
Why do we use mon for brother but ma for sister? Doesn't the word for "my" depend on who is speaking?
In French, possessive words like "my" agree with the gender of the noun they are attached to, not the gender of the person speaking. Because frère is masculine, it takes mon, and because sœur is feminine, it takes ma.
What is that joined letter "œ" in sœur?
That combined letter is called a ligature (or e dans l'o in French). It makes a specific vowel sound somewhat similar to the "ur" in the English word "surf". You will also see it in common French words like cœur (heart) and œuf (egg).

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