Le livre est long.

to be

Breakdown of Le livre est long.

• le livre: the book
• long: long

Questions & Answers about Le livre est long.

Why do we use Le instead of La here?

In French, livre (meaning "book") is considered a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine definite article Le. If the noun were feminine (for example, chaise), it would take La instead.

Why is livre masculine?

Many French nouns’ genders come from historical usage rather than logical rules. Livre is traditionally a masculine noun, so French grammar requires masculine articles and adjectives for it. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut other than memorizing or consulting a dictionary to confirm each noun’s gender.

Why do we say est after Le livre?

Est is the third-person singular form of the verb être (to be). Since Le livre is a singular subject ("the book"), we use il est or simply est as in Le livre est long ("The book is long").

Why is long used and not longue?

Adjectives in French must agree with the gender of the noun they describe. Livre is masculine, so the masculine form of the adjective (long) is used. If the noun were feminine (for example, la table), you would use the feminine form longue.

How is long pronounced here?

In French, long is generally pronounced using a nasal vowel at the end (similar to "lohng" in English, but without a full 'ng' sound). You do not pronounce the final -g.