Question 1

Why is it de grandes étoiles and not des grandes étoiles since "stars" is plural?

Accepted Answer

This is the exact rule you are learning! Normally, the plural of "a" or "some" is des (like des étoiles). But when a plural adjective like grandes comes before a plural noun, des shrinks down to de. In casual spoken French, you might hear native speakers still use des, but de is the standard grammar rule.

Question 2

Why does the adjective grandes come before the noun étoiles here?

Accepted Answer

While most French adjectives come after the noun, a short list of common adjectives comes before it. You can remember these with the acronym BANGS: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size. Because grandes describes size, it is placed in front of the noun.

Question 3

If I took the adjective out of this sentence, would it still use de?

Accepted Answer

No, it would go back to being des. If you just wanted to say "There are stars in the sky," you would say Il y a des étoiles dans le ciel. The change to de only happens because the adjective grandes stepped in between the article and the noun.

Question 4

Is there a spoken link (liaison) between grandes and étoiles?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Because grandes ends in an "s" and étoiles begins with a vowel, you make a liaison. You pronounce the "s" at the end of grandes like a "z" sound, connecting it smoothly to the beginning of étoiles.

Il y a de grandes étoiles dans le ciel.

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