Breakdown of Le climat est difficile, mais l'espèce s'adapte.
être
to be
mais
but
difficile
difficult
le climat
the climate
Questions & Answers about Le climat est difficile, mais l'espèce s'adapte.
This lesson is about cependant and pourtant. How could I rewrite this sentence using them instead of mais?
You can easily swap mais (but) for cependant (however) or pourtant (yet/even so) to make the contrast a bit stronger or more formal. When using them, you usually split the clauses with a semicolon or period rather than a comma: Le climat est difficile ; l'espèce s'adapte pourtant. or Le climat est difficile. Cependant, l'espèce s'adapte.
Why is it s'adapte (reflexive) instead of just adapte?
In French, when a subject adapts itself to a new situation or environment, you must use the reflexive verb s'adapter. If you used the non-reflexive adapter, the sentence would feel incomplete because it would need a direct object (like adapting a tool, or adapting a book into a movie).
The English translation is "species". Why isn't there an s at the end of espèce?
How do I know the gender of l'espèce since the article is shortened to l'?