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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 lumière est blanche.
What is the English translation of La lumière est blanche?
It translates to The light is white.
Why does the adjective appear as blanche instead of blanc?
In French, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number. Since lumière is a feminine noun, the adjective takes the feminine form blanche.
What role does est play in this sentence?
Est is the third person singular conjugation of être (to be), linking the subject la lumière with the adjective blanche.
How does adjective agreement work in this sentence?
The adjective blanche agrees with the noun lumière in both gender (feminine) and number (singular), which is why the feminine ending -e appears on the adjective.
If I wanted to change the sentence to refer to multiple lights, what would it look like?
For the plural form, you would say Les lumières sont blanches. The article, verb, and adjective all change to match the plural form of the feminine noun.