Breakdown of Est-ce que le tailleur coupe le quart de la longueur ?
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
est-ce que
is it that / do / does (question marker)
le quart
the quarter
couper
to cut
Questions & Answers about Est-ce que le tailleur coupe le quart de la longueur ?
Why does the French sentence say le quart de instead of un quart de for "a quarter of"?
When talking about fractions of a specific whole, French typically uses the definite article: la moitié de (half of), le tiers de (a third of), and le quart de (a quarter of). You will see un quart used mostly as a standalone measurement, like un quart d'heure (a quarter of an hour).
Since we are saying "of the", why is it de la instead of just de?
The core expression is le quart de (the quarter of), but you must still include the definite article for the specific noun that follows. Since longueur is feminine, we use la, giving us de la longueur. If the tailor were cutting a quarter of the fabric (le tissu), de and le would contract to make du tissu.
la longueur means "the length." How is this related to the adjective for "long"?