Le sac est coloré.

to be

Breakdown of Le sac est coloré.

• le sac: the bag
• coloré: colorful

Questions & Answers about Le sac est coloré.

What is the role of le in this sentence?

Le is the masculine singular definite article, equivalent to "the" in English. It signals that sac is a specific object and that it is a masculine noun.

Why is the adjective coloré not written as colorée?

In French, adjectives must agree with the noun in both gender and number. Since sac is a masculine singular noun, the adjective stays in its masculine singular form, coloré. If the noun were feminine, the adjective would change to colorée.

What is the function of est in this sentence?

Est is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb être (to be). It acts as a linking verb that connects the subject (le sac) with the predicate adjective (coloré), describing the state or quality of the bag.

Is the placement of coloré after est typical in French?

Yes, it is typical. When using être as a linking verb, the descriptive adjective usually follows it. This structure—subject + être + adjective—is the standard way to attribute a quality to a noun in French.

How would the sentence change if we used a feminine noun instead of sac?

If we replace the masculine noun sac with a feminine noun, both the article and the adjective must reflect the gender change. For example, replacing le sac with la robe (the dress) would result in the sentence: La robe est colorée. Here, la is the feminine singular article and colorée is the feminine form of the adjective.