Breakdown of Alors que ma tête est nue, la tienne est protégée.
être
to be
mon
my (mon, ma, mes)
protéger
to protect
le tien
yours (informal, masculine singular; also la tienne, les tiens, les tiennes)
Questions & Answers about Alors que ma tête est nue, la tienne est protégée.
Why does nue have an e at the end here?
The adjective nu (bare or naked) only agrees with the noun when it comes after it. Because it is describing the feminine noun tête and comes after the verb here, it takes the feminine form nue. If it were placed before the noun with a hyphen, such as in the expression nu-tête (bare-headed), it would remain invariable and not take an e.
Could I use Pendant que instead of Alors que to say 'while'?
You could, but alors que is a much better fit here. Pendant que usually means 'while' strictly in the sense of time (two things happening at once). Alors que translates to 'while' or 'whereas' to show a strong contrast or opposition, which is exactly what we are doing by comparing a bare head to a protected one.
What does la tienne refer to, and why is it feminine?
Why is there an extra e on protégée?