Breakdown of Le rubis et le saphir auront gardé leur éclat.
et
and
avoir
to have
leur
their (singular and plural forms: leur, leurs)
garder
to keep
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
le saphir
the sapphire
l'éclat (m)
the brilliance (m)
le rubis
the ruby
Questions & Answers about Le rubis et le saphir auront gardé leur éclat.
Why is the verb form auront gardé used here instead of the simple future garderont?
Auront gardé is the futur antérieur (future perfect) tense. It translates directly to 'will have kept' and emphasizes that by a certain point in the future, the state of keeping their brilliance will already be fully established or completed.
Why do we use leur instead of leurs since there are two stones?
The possessive adjective leur agrees in number with the noun it modifies, which is the singular éclat (brilliance). Even though the ruby and sapphire are plural owners, the trait they possess is treated as a single, shared quality here.
Could auront gardé imply something other than a strictly future event here?
Yes! In French, the futur antérieur is often used to express a strong probability or a logical assumption about a past event, translating roughly to 'must have kept.' Without more context, the literal future perfect 'will have kept' is the most direct translation, but using it for past assumptions is a great B2-level nuance to recognize.
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