Question 1

Why is it coupé and not coupée if the subject Elle is feminine?

Accepted Answer

In the past tense (passé composé), verbs that use avoir as their helping verb do not change to match the subject. They only agree with a direct object if that object is placed before the verb. Since the object here (le chou) comes after the verb, coupé stays in its basic masculine singular form.

Question 2

How do you make chou plural if she cut multiple cabbages?

Accepted Answer

You would write les choux. Nouns ending in -ou normally take an -s in the plural, but chou belongs to a famous group of seven exceptions that take an -x instead. Other common exceptions you might already know at this level are bijou (jewel) and genou (knee).

Question 3

Why use pour la salade instead of à la salade?

Accepted Answer

We use pour here because it expresses the destination or intended purpose of the cabbage (it is destined for the salad). The preposition à is instead used to describe the main flavor or characteristic ingredient of a dish, such as une glace à la fraise (strawberry ice cream).

Question 4

I've heard French people call each other mon chou. Does that really mean "my cabbage"?

Accepted Answer

It does! Mon chou or mon petit chou is a very common term of endearment in French, similar to "sweetheart" or "honey" in English. It likely comes from the round, cute shape of a cream puff pastry, which is called a chou à la crème because it looks like a tiny cabbage.

Elle a coupé le chou pour la salade.

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