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Les filles nouveau-nées sont dans la couveuse.

Les filles nouveau-nées sont dans la couveuse.
The newborn girls are in the incubator.
From Lesson 403:Compound adjective agreement·French

Questions & Answers about Les filles nouveau-nées sont dans la couveuse.

Why does nées have an "es" at the end, but nouveau doesn't change to nouvelles?
In this compound adjective, nouveau acts as an adverb meaning "newly" (as in "newly born"). Because adverbs are invariable, it doesn't change form. Nées is an adjective describing the feminine plural noun Les filles, so it takes the feminine plural ending -es.
When do both parts of a compound adjective agree with the noun?
Both parts agree when they are both adjectives describing the noun. For example, in des filles sourdes-muettes (deaf-mute girls), both words are adjectives, so they both take the feminine plural endings.
Do I always need a hyphen for nouveau-né?
Yes. Whether you are using it as an adjective (like in this sentence) or as a noun (like un nouveau-né meaning "a newborn"), it is always hyphenated.
Where does the word couveuse come from?
It comes from the verb couver, which means "to incubate" or "to sit on eggs to hatch them." Therefore, une couveuse is the medical incubator used for babies.

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