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“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).
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Questions & Answers about La question est difficile.
Why is the article la used instead of le?
In French, question is a feminine noun, so you must use the feminine article la.
Why is the verb est used here, rather than sont or other forms?
In French, est is the singular form of the verb être (to be) for third-person singular (il/elle/on). Since la question is singular, est is the correct form.
How should difficile be pronounced in French?
It's pronounced roughly as dee-fee-seel, with a soft d sound at the beginning and a slightly stressed third syllable (-fil).
Can I say La question est difficile in another way with roughly the same meaning?
Yes, you could say Cette question est difficile (meaning “this question is difficult”), but La question est difficile is perfectly correct and more directly states “The question is difficult.”