Question 1

Why is the adjective entière spelled with a grave accent and an e at the end?

Accepted Answer

It describes the feminine noun journée, so the adjective must be feminine. Masculine adjectives ending in -er change to -ère in the feminine. Therefore, the masculine entier becomes entière.

Question 2

Why use journée instead of jour for the English word day?

Accepted Answer

While jour is used as a simple unit of time, journée emphasizes the actual duration of the day from start to finish. Because she is sleeping through that whole span of time, journée is the best choice here to highlight the length of the activity.

Question 3

Why does entière come after the noun it describes?

Accepted Answer

Unlike English, most adjectives in French are placed immediately after the noun. Only a small group of common adjectives (describing beauty, age, goodness, or size) go before the noun. Entière follows the standard rule and goes after journée.

Question 4

Why is the verb form dort instead of something regular like dormit?

Accepted Answer

Dormir (to sleep) is an irregular verb. For singular subjects like je, tu, and elle, you drop the m from the root. So the conjugation becomes je dors, tu dors, and elle dort.

Elle dort une journée entière.

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