Word
Ce gratte-ciel est la structure la plus étroite, mais il a la vue la plus impressionnante.
Meaning
This skyscraper is the narrowest structure, but it has the most impressive view.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ce gratte-ciel est la structure la plus étroite, mais il a la vue la plus impressionnante.
être
to be
il
he
mais
but
avoir
to have
Questions & Answers about Ce gratte-ciel est la structure la plus étroite, mais il a la vue la plus impressionnante.
Why is la used twice in la structure la plus étroite?
In French, when a superlative (the most / the least) comes after the noun, you must repeat the definite article (le, la, or les). So literally, you are saying 'the structure the most narrow'. You can see this rule again in the second half of the sentence with la vue la plus impressionnante.
Could I change the word order to la plus étroite structure to avoid repeating la?
No, because the placement of the superlative depends on where the adjective normally goes. Because étroite (narrow) and impressionnante (impressive) are adjectives that naturally go after the noun, their superlatives must also go after the noun. You only use a single article when the adjective normally comes before the noun (like grande in la plus grande structure).
Why does the second half of the sentence use il a (it has) instead of elle a, when we just talked about la structure?
What does gratte-ciel literally mean?