Learn French: Elle admire tous les beaux oiseaux du jardin. - She admires all the beautiful birds in the garden.

Elle admire tous les beaux oiseaux du jardin.

She admires all the beautiful birds in the garden.

Breakdown of Elle admire tous les beaux oiseaux du jardin.

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

le jardin

the garden (faire le jardin = to garden)

Questions & Answers about Elle admire tous les beaux oiseaux du jardin.

Why do beaux and oiseaux end in -x instead of -s?

In French, most nouns and adjectives that end in -eau (or -eu) in the singular form their plural by adding an -x instead of an -s. So, the singular beau becomes beaux, and oiseau becomes oiseaux.

Do I pronounce the -x at the end of beaux and oiseaux?

Normally, the -x at the end of a word is silent, which is true for oiseaux. However, because beaux is an adjective directly followed by a noun starting with a vowel, you make a spoken connection called a liaison. The -x links to the next word and makes a z sound.

I thought adjectives usually go after the noun. Why is it beaux oiseaux?

You are right that most French adjectives come after the noun. However, short, common adjectives describing Beauty, Age, Goodness, or Size (often called the BAGS rule) go before the noun. Since beaux describes beauty, it is placed before oiseaux.

The translation says in the garden, but the French uses du jardin. Why not dans le jardin?