La faïence est fragile.

to be

Breakdown of La faïence est fragile.

• fragile: fragile
• la faïence: the earthenware

Questions & Answers about La faïence est fragile.

Why is it la and not une?

Because French often uses the definite article (le / la / les) to talk about something in general.

So La faïence est fragile means something like earthenware is fragile or faience is fragile as a general statement.

If you said Une faïence est fragile, it would sound odd in most contexts, because faïence is usually being treated here as a material or category, not as one single unspecified item.

Why is faïence feminine?

Because faïence is simply a feminine noun in French, and noun gender is something you usually have to learn with the word.

That is why it takes:

• la faïence
• elle if you refer back to it
• feminine agreement where needed

There is not always a logical reason for grammatical gender, so the best habit is to learn the noun together with its article: la faïence.

What does the ï with the two dots mean?