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Le prix du pain est élevé.

Le prix du pain est élevé.
The price of bread is high.
FromLesson 13inHardcore French

Breakdown of Le prix du pain est élevé.

être
to be
le pain
the bread
du
some
élevé
high
le prix
the price

Questions & Answers about Le prix du pain est élevé.

What does the contraction du represent in this sentence?
du is the contraction of de and le. In this sentence, it indicates a possessive or associative relationship, translating to "of the" in English. So, du pain means "of the bread."
Why is the adjective élevé in its masculine singular form?
In French, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to. The subject here is le prix (a masculine singular noun), so élevé stays in its masculine singular form to match correctly.
What is the structure of the noun phrase Le prix du pain?
The phrase is built as follows: Le (definite article) + prix (noun) forms the main subject, while du pain is a prepositional phrase that specifies the relationship—indicating "of the bread"—with du being the contracted form of de le.
What does élevé imply about the price in this context?
While élevé generally means "high" or "elevated," in the given sentence it specifically suggests that the price is high or expensive. It emphasizes that the cost of the bread is more than what might be normally expected.
How does the possessive construction in French, as seen in du pain, differ from the way possession is shown in English?
Instead of using an apostrophe-s as in English (for example, "the bread's price"), French uses the preposition de (or its contraction du in the case of a masculine singular noun) to indicate possession or association. Thus, le prix du pain directly translates to "the price of the bread."
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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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