Question 1

Why do we use qui here instead of que?

Accepted Answer

In French, qui is used when the relative pronoun is the subject of the action. Here, the insect is the one doing the eating, so qui acts as the subject for the verb mange. If the insect were the object receiving the action (for example, "the insect that I eat"), you would use que.

Question 2

I thought qui meant "who". Why is it translated as "that" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

While qui is the question word for "who", it has a broader meaning when used as a relative pronoun to link two parts of a sentence. In this role, it can mean "who", "which", or "that". Because l'insecte is not a person, qui translates best to "that" or "which" in English.

Question 3

Why is the adjective minuscule placed after l'insecte?

Accepted Answer

Most French adjectives go right after the noun they describe. A small group of very common adjectives (often memorized as BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size) go before the noun. Even though minuscule describes size, the basic adjective for small (petit) goes before the noun, while minuscule follows the normal rule and goes after.

Question 4

Dangereux ends in an "x". Is it singular or plural in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

It is singular! Masculine adjectives that end in -eux (like heureux or dangereux) do not change their spelling in the plural. You have to look at the rest of the sentence to tell. Here, l'insecte is singular, which we also know from the singular verb est, so dangereux is singular too.

L'insecte minuscule qui mange la plante est dangereux.

Breakdown of L'insecte minuscule qui mange la plante est dangereux.

Questions & Answers about L'insecte minuscule qui mange la plante est dangereux.

Learn L'insecte minuscule qui mange la plante est dangereux and more in French