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Marie porte le sac bleu.

Marie porte le sac bleu.
Marie carries the blue bag.
FromLesson 11inHardcore French

Breakdown of Marie porte le sac bleu.

Marie
Marie
le sac
the bag
bleu
blue
porter
to carry

Questions & Answers about Marie porte le sac bleu.

Why is the definite article le used before sac in the sentence?
In French, definite articles like le are used to indicate a specific object. Here, le sac bleu refers to a particular blue bag that is known or defined by the context, unlike in English where sometimes an article may be omitted.
Why does the adjective bleu come after the noun sac, even though adjectives in English usually come before the noun?
French generally places adjectives after the noun they modify. Although there are exceptions, adjectives of color like bleu typically follow the noun. This is why the sentence uses the order sac bleu to mean “blue bag.”
How is the verb porter conjugated in this sentence and why?
The verb porter is conjugated as porte to agree with the subject Marie, which is third person singular. In French, verbs must agree with their subject in person and number, so porter becomes porte when referring to a singular subject like Marie.
How does adjective–noun agreement work in this sentence with the adjective bleu?
In French, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Since sac is a masculine singular noun, the adjective remains in its masculine singular form, bleu. If the noun were feminine or plural, the adjective would have to change accordingly (for example, bleue for feminine).
Does the verb porter mean “to carry” or “to wear” in this sentence, and how can I tell?
The verb porter can mean both “to carry” and “to wear” in French. In this sentence, because it refers to le sac (a bag), it’s most naturally understood as “to carry” the blue bag. Context is key in determining the exact meaning when a verb has more than one translation.
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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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