Tu as de mauvaises influences.

Questions & Answers about Tu as de mauvaises influences.

Why is it de mauvaises influences instead of des mauvaises influences?
When a plural adjective comes before a plural noun, the plural indefinite article des changes to de. Because the adjective mauvaises is placed before the noun influences, we must use de.
Why does the adjective mauvaises come before the noun here?
While most French adjectives follow the noun, a specific group of common adjectives comes before it. You can remember them with the acronym BANGS, which stands for Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, and Size. The adjective mauvais (bad) fits into the Goodness category, so it precedes the noun.
How do we get the form mauvaises from the base dictionary word?
Adjectives must match the noun in gender and number. The masculine singular form is mauvais. Because the noun influence is feminine, we first add an -e to make it mauvaise. Then, because it is plural, we add an -s to make it mauvaises.
Would it be a huge mistake if I accidentally said des mauvaises influences?
Not in casual conversation! In everyday spoken French, native speakers actually use des instead of de in this structure all the time. However, using de is the grammatically correct rule that you are expected to use in writing and formal speech.

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