Learn French: Ces bébés prématurés qui dorment sont dans les couveuses. - These premature babies who are sleeping are in the incubators.

Ces bébés prématurés qui dorment sont dans les couveuses.

These premature babies who are sleeping are in the incubators.

Breakdown of Ces bébés prématurés qui dorment sont dans les couveuses.

Questions & Answers about Ces bébés prématurés qui dorment sont dans les couveuses.

Since the current lesson is on compound adjectives, how would the agreement change if we said newborn babies (bébés nouveau-nés) instead of premature babies (bébés prématurés)?

In bébés prématurés, prématurés is a standard adjective that takes a normal masculine plural agreement. However, if you used the compound adjective nouveau-nés (newborn), only nés takes the plural -s. This is because nouveau acts as an adverb here (meaning newly), and adverbs never agree. If it were an adjective + adjective compound like sourds-muets (deaf-mute), both words would take the plural marker.

Could I say ces bébés dormants instead of using the relative clause qui dorment?

It is much more natural to use a relative clause (qui dorment) for an ongoing action. If you use the verbal adjective dormants, it describes a permanent state or characteristic (like a dormant volcano or standing water) rather than the temporary action of taking a nap.

Why is the preposition dans used here for in the incubators instead of en?

You use dans when referring to being physically inside a specific, enclosed, tangible space like an incubator, and it is always followed by a determiner like les. En is typically used for more abstract locations, concepts, or directly before a noun without an article.

Why does the adjective prématurés come after bébés?

It follows the standard French rule for descriptive placement: adjectives that objectively categorize or define a noun (such as medical, technical, or scientific classifications) almost always follow the noun. Only a specific group of frequent, short adjectives precede it.