Breakdown of Le mâle provoquant le troupeau est en danger.
être
to be
en
in, to
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
provoquer
to cause
Questions & Answers about Le mâle provoquant le troupeau est en danger.
Why is provoquant spelled with qu here instead of c?
In French, verbs ending in -quer often have two similar but distinct forms. The present participle keeps the qu (like provoquant, meaning the active action of provoking), while the verbal adjective changes to a c (like provocant, meaning the descriptive quality of being provocative). Because the word here is performing an action directly on an object (le troupeau), it acts as a verb, so it takes the qu spelling.
If the subject was feminine (La femelle), would provoquant need an -e at the end?
Why do we say en danger instead of dans le danger?
Could you use mâle to talk about a human male in French?