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Cette femme est vraiment protectrice.

Cette femme est vraiment protectrice.
This woman is really protective.
From Lesson 79:Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)·French

Questions & Answers about Cette femme est vraiment protectrice.

Why does the adjective end in -trice here?
The masculine form of this adjective is protecteur. In French, adjectives that end in -teur usually change to -trice in the feminine form. Since femme (woman) is feminine, we must use protectrice. You might recognize this exact same pattern with words like acteur and actrice!
How would this sentence change if we were talking about a man?
It would become: Cet homme est vraiment protecteur. Notice how the feminine cette (this) changes to the masculine cet, and the feminine adjective protectrice changes back to its masculine form, protecteur.
Why do we use Cette instead of Ce for "This"?
Cette is the feminine singular word for "this" or "that" (called a demonstrative adjective). Because femme is a feminine noun, we must use cette. If it were a masculine noun, we would use ce (or cet if the noun started with a vowel sound, like homme).
Is vraiment always placed right after the verb?
Usually, yes! In French, short adverbs like vraiment (really), souvent (often), or beaucoup (a lot) almost always go immediately after the conjugated verb. In this sentence, it safely follows est.

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