Breakdown of Cette tenue ne sera ni confortable ni pratique.
être
to be
pratique
practical
ne
not (used before the verb)
ce
this (before a noun)
confortable
comfortable
ni
nor
la tenue
the outfit
Questions & Answers about Cette tenue ne sera ni confortable ni pratique.
Why isn't there a pas in this negative sentence?
Where exactly do we put ne and ni when structuring this?
The ne goes directly in front of the conjugated verb, just like in a normal negative sentence (ne sera). Then, you place a ni directly in front of each individual item you are rejecting or contrasting—in this case, the adjectives confortable and pratique.
Cette tenue is feminine. Why don't the adjectives confortable and pratique get an extra 'e' to match?
I know sera is the future tense of "to be" (will be). But doesn't the future tense normally use the full infinitive verb?
Usually, yes! For regular verbs, you add the future endings directly to the infinitive (like parler becoming elle parlera). But être (to be) has a completely irregular future stem, which is ser-. That is why "it will be" becomes sera instead of using the full infinitive.
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