Question 1

Why does this sentence use both mol and mou to say soft?

Accepted Answer

Both are masculine singular forms of the same adjective. You must use mol instead of mou when the adjective is placed directly in front of a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h, like oreiller. At the end of the sentence, it is not in front of a noun, so it reverts to the standard form mou.

Question 2

If I add an adjective like petit (small) between soft and the pillow, do I still use mol?

Accepted Answer

No, you would go back to using mou. This special form is only used when the adjective is right next to the vowel sound to prevent a vowel clash. If you separate them with a word starting with a consonant, it becomes ce mou petit oreiller.

Question 3

Is the noun oreiller masculine or feminine?

Accepted Answer

It is masculine. The form mol is exclusively a masculine adjective. If the noun were feminine, you would use the feminine form molle regardless of whether the noun starts with a vowel or a consonant.

Question 4

Since oreiller starts with a vowel, why do we use ce instead of cet?

Accepted Answer

The word cet is the vowel-friendly form of ce (this), used when ce is directly next to a masculine noun starting with a vowel. However, in this sentence, the adjective comes between them. Because mol starts with a consonant, we just use the standard ce.

Ce mol oreiller est vraiment très mou.

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