Breakdown of Le vieux spa de ce vieil hôtel est incomparable.
être
to be
l'hôtel
the hotel (m)
ce
this (before a noun)
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
Questions & Answers about Le vieux spa de ce vieil hôtel est incomparable.
Why does the sentence use vieux for the spa but vieil for the hotel?
Both vieux and vieil mean "old" and are masculine singular adjectives. You use the regular form vieux before a word starting with a consonant, like in vieux spa. However, when a masculine singular word starts with a vowel or a mute h, French uses the special mutated form vieil to make pronunciation smoother, giving us vieil hôtel.
I learned that "this hotel" is cet hôtel. Why is it ce vieil hôtel here instead of cet vieil hôtel?
You use the special demonstrative cet only when the word immediately following it starts with a vowel sound. Because the adjective vieil was inserted between the demonstrative and the noun, and vieil starts with a consonant (v), you must revert to the standard masculine singular ce, resulting in ce vieil hôtel.
How does the pronunciation work with vieil hôtel? Do you pronounce the L?
If we made it plural ("these old hotels"), would we use a plural form of ?