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Voici le rubis dont la teinte rouge est très rare.

Voici le rubis dont la teinte rouge est très rare.
Here is the ruby whose red hue is very rare.
From Lesson 372:Consequence and origin (d'où)·French

Questions & Answers about Voici le rubis dont la teinte rouge est très rare.

Since this lesson covers d'où, why is dont used in this sentence instead?
The pronoun d'où expresses physical origin (from where) or a logical consequence (hence). However, this sentence expresses possession (whose red hue / the red hue of which). To show possession or replace a phrase starting with de, you must use dont.
Why do we say dont la teinte instead of just dont teinte for 'whose hue'?
In French, when dont is used to mean 'whose', the noun it possesses must be preceded by a definite article (le, la, or les). You are literally saying 'of which the hue'. English drops the article after 'whose', but French never does.
If I wanted to say 'whose red hue I love', would the word order stay the same?
No, it would become dont j'adore la teinte rouge. A major rule for dont is that the possessed noun stays in its normal grammatical spot. In our original sentence, la teinte is the subject, so it comes right after dont. If it becomes the object of the verb (what you love), it must follow that verb.
What is the difference between using teinte and couleur here?
While couleur means 'color' in a general sense, teinte translates to 'hue', 'shade', or 'tint'. Using teinte gives a more precise and elegant nuance, which is very natural when describing the specific optical properties of a gemstone like a ruby.

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