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Février est un petit mois.

Février est un petit mois.
February is a short month.
From Lesson 42:Months of the year·French

Breakdown of Février est un petit mois.

petit
small / short
le mois
the month
février
February

Questions & Answers about Février est un petit mois.

Why is petit translated as "short" here instead of "small"?
While petit literally means "small" or "little", languages often use different words to describe the same idea. In French, it is perfectly natural to describe a time period with fewer days as "small," which translates best to "short" in English.
Why does petit come before mois? I thought French adjectives usually go after the noun.
You are right that most French adjectives go after the noun. However, there is a small group of common, short adjectives that go before the noun. A helpful trick is to remember that adjectives describing Beauty, Age, Goodness, and Size go before the noun. Since petit describes size, it comes before mois.
Mois ends with an "s". Does that mean it is plural in this sentence?
No, it is singular here, which we can tell because it uses the singular word un (a). The French word for month, mois, just naturally ends in an "s" even when there is only one. When you want to say "months" in the plural, the spelling stays exactly the same (des mois). Remember that the final "s" is silent!
Are months capitalized in French like they are in English?
Actually, no! In French, months of the year and days of the week are written with lowercase letters. Février only has a capital letter here because it is the very first word of the sentence.

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