Question 1

Why is quand même placed before joli instead of at the end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

In French, quand même often acts like a short adverb. When modifying an adjective (like joli) with the verb être, it is very natural to place it immediately after the verb. You could also say c'est joli quand même, but c'est quand même joli is standard and flows perfectly.

Question 2

Could I use tout de même here instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes, absolutely! C'est tout de même joli means exactly the same thing. Quand même is slightly more common in everyday spoken French, while tout de même can sound a tiny bit more formal, but they are fully interchangeable here.

Question 3

Imperfection is feminine, so why is joli masculine here?

Accepted Answer

Because the speaker used c'est. When you use the structure c'est + adjective to make a general comment or an assessment, the adjective is always masculine singular. Even though it is related to the feminine noun imperfection, the pronoun ce acts as a neutral summary (meaning 'the overall result is pretty'). If the speaker had used a specific pronoun, it would be elle est quand même jolie.

Question 4

Why does je garde mean 'I am keeping' instead of 'I am guarding'?

Accepted Answer

While garder can mean 'to guard' or 'to watch over' (like a security guard or a babysitter), its most common everyday meaning is simply 'to keep'. Here, the speaker is choosing not to fix or throw away the object, so they are keeping it.

Je garde cette imperfection ; c'est quand même joli.

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