Breakdown of Tout sophistiqué qu'il est, ce téléphone a une esthétique terrible.
être
to be
une
a / an (feminine)
il
he
avoir
to have
le téléphone
the phone
ce
this (before a noun)
terrible
terrible
que
that (introducing a clause)
tout
completely
l'esthétique
the aesthetic (f)
sophistiqué
sophisticated
Questions & Answers about Tout sophistiqué qu'il est, ce téléphone a une esthétique terrible.
Why is the indicative est used here instead of the subjunctive, even though this expresses concession?
The structure tout + adjective + que is a notable exception among concessive phrases. While conjunctions like bien que (although) require the subjunctive, this specific tout... que construction strictly takes the indicative. It emphasizes an established fact: the phone is sophisticated, but it still looks awful.
I usually translate tout as "all" or "every". What is it doing here?
Would tout change if we were talking about a feminine noun, like a watch (une montre)?
Yes, it would. Even though tout is an adverb here (and adverbs are usually invariable), French has a quirky rule: the adverb tout must agree if it comes before a feminine adjective that starts with a consonant or aspirated h. Because sophistiquée starts with a consonant, for a watch it would become: Toute sophistiquée qu'elle est...
Doesn't the word terrible sometimes mean "awesome" or "terrific" in French?
Yes! In everyday French, terrible can mean either "awful" (its traditional meaning) or "fantastic" (informally). You have to rely on context. Because the first half of the sentence sets up a contrast indicating that despite its sophistication there is a flaw, we know terrible is being used in its negative sense here.
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