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Où sont les filles bien-aimées du roi ?

Où sont les filles bien-aimées du roi ?
Where are the king's beloved daughters?
From Lesson 403:Compound adjective agreement·French

Questions & Answers about Où sont les filles bien-aimées du roi ?

Why does aimées have an -es at the end, but bien doesn't change?
In the compound adjective bien-aimées, bien acts as an adverb modifying the adjective aimées. Adverbs never change their form, so bien is invariable. However, aimées must agree in gender and number with the feminine plural noun it describes (les filles), which is why it takes an -es.
Why is there a hyphen in bien-aimées?
When bien (well) and a past participle fuse to create a specific, established adjective like bien-aimé (beloved), they take a hyphen. This locks them together as a single compound adjective rather than just an adverb temporarily modifying an adjective.
Could bien-aimées go before the noun instead of after?
Usually, standard French places compound adjectives after the noun. You might occasionally see les bien-aimées filles in poetic, religious, or very old-fashioned texts, but placing it after the noun is the standard, natural choice here.
Can bien-aimé be used as a noun on its own?
Yes, it frequently acts as a noun meaning 'sweetheart' or 'the beloved', like in mon bien-aimé. In this specific sentence, though, it is functioning as an adjective describing les filles.

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