Question 1

Why is it ce pantalon (singular) when the English translation says "these pants" (plural)?

Accepted Answer

In French, a piece of clothing like pants or trousers is usually singular (un pantalon), unlike in English where "pants" is always plural. Because it is a masculine singular noun, we use the singular demonstrative adjective ce (this), even though we translate it as "these" in English to sound natural.

Question 2

How would I apply this lesson's grammar to say we are adjusting "half of the hem"?

Accepted Answer

You would say Nous ajustons la moitié de l'ourlet. The fractional quantity la moitié de (half of) is followed directly by the noun. Since ourlet starts with a vowel, we use de l'.

Question 3

Why do we use de ce instead of du before pantalon?

Accepted Answer

Du is a mandatory contraction of de + le ("of the"). But here we want to say "of these" pants. The demonstrative adjective ce (this/these) takes the place of le, so there is no le to contract with. We simply leave it as de ce.

Question 4

Is there a liaison between Nous and ajustons?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Because the pronoun Nous ends in an "s" and the verb ajustons begins with a vowel, there is a mandatory liaison. The "s" sounds like a "z" when spoken, bridging the two words together.

Nous ajustons l'ourlet de ce pantalon.

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