Question 1

This lesson is about detached adjectival phrases, but this sentence starts with À part l'oasis. Does it work the same way?

Accepted Answer

Yes! While this lesson focuses on adjectives and past participles, you can also detach prepositional phrases like À part l'oasis by placing them at the start of a sentence. Just like a detached adjective, it sets the context or condition for the rest of the sentence and is set off by a comma.

Question 2

How can I tell the gender of l'oasis here?

Accepted Answer

You can't tell just by looking at l', but oasis is feminine (une oasis). This is a great exception to memorize. Because it starts with a vowel, the article shrinks to l', but if you were to add an adjective, it would have to agree in the feminine form, as in une belle oasis.

Question 3

Could I use Sauf instead of À part in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Sauf l'oasis and À part l'oasis mean exactly the same thing here, translating to except for or apart from the oasis. À part can sometimes feel slightly more natural in casual spoken French, but both are perfectly interchangeable and correct in any context.

Question 4

Since tout refers to all the things around them, why is the verb singular (est)?

Accepted Answer

Just like the English word everything, the French pronoun tout is grammatically singular. Even though it represents a plural concept (all the things), it always takes the third-person singular form of the verb.

À part l'oasis, tout est aride ici.

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