Breakdown of Le bateau continue malgré les vagues gigantesques.
continuer
to continue
le bateau
the boat
malgré
despite
la vague
the wave
gigantesque
gigantic
Questions & Answers about Le bateau continue malgré les vagues gigantesques.
I often want to say "malgré de" because English says "in spite of". Is there ever a "de" after malgré?
No, malgré is a direct preposition. Just like the English word "despite," it doesn't use "of" (de). You just put the noun directly after it, which is why we say malgré les vagues (despite the waves) rather than adding a de.
Could I use bien que instead of malgré in this sentence to mean the same thing?
No, because bien que (although or even though) must be followed by a subject and a conjugated verb. Since les vagues gigantesques is just a noun phrase with no verb, you must use a preposition like malgré. To use bien que, you would need to change the sentence structure entirely, such as: Le bateau continue bien que les vagues soient gigantesques (The boat continues even though the waves are gigantic).
Why does gigantesques come after vagues instead of before it?
In French, most adjectives go after the noun they describe. The main exceptions are short, common adjectives relating to Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size (the BANGS rule) like petit or grand. Even though gigantesques describes size, it is a long, multi-syllable adjective, so it follows the standard rule and is placed after the noun.
Is gigantesques the masculine or feminine plural form here?
It is the feminine plural form, because vague is a feminine noun. However, the singular form of the adjective is gigantesque, which already ends in an -e. Because it inherently ends in an -e, it doesn't change spelling between masculine and feminine. To make it plural, you simply add an -s, so it looks exactly the same for both masculine and feminine plural nouns.
Learn Le bateau continue malgré les vagues gigantesques and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free