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Tu es étonné par ce beau coquillage ?

Tu es étonné par ce beau coquillage ?
Are you surprised by this beautiful seashell?
From Lesson 277:Agreement of the adverb tout (toute, toutes)·French

Questions & Answers about Tu es étonné par ce beau coquillage ?

If I am speaking to a woman and want to ask "Are you completely surprised?", how do I use the adverb tout here?
You would say Tu es tout étonnée ?. Even though the adjective étonnée becomes feminine, the adverb tout (meaning "completely") stays exactly the same. This is because tout only changes to match feminine adjectives if they start with a consonant or an aspirated 'h'. Since étonnée starts with a vowel, tout remains invariable.
Why is it ce and not cet before beau coquillage?
The word coquillage is masculine, so we use the demonstrative adjective ce (meaning "this" or "that"). You only use cet for masculine words when the very next word starts with a vowel or a mute 'h'. Because the adjective beau comes right after it and starts with a consonant, ce is the correct form.
I often see de used after feelings. Can I say étonné de instead of étonné par?
Yes! Both étonné par and étonné de are correct and commonly used to mean "surprised by". Using par puts a little more focus on the seashell as the active cause of the surprise, while de is the traditional preposition for states of emotion.
Why does beau come before coquillage instead of after?
In French, most adjectives go after the noun. However, short and very common adjectives that describe Beauty, Age, Goodness, or Size (often remembered by the acronym BAGS) go in front of the noun. Since beau describes beauty, it is placed right before coquillage.

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