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Le jardin est joli.

Le jardin est joli.
The garden is pretty.
FromLesson 15inHardcore French

Breakdown of Le jardin est joli.

être
to be
le jardin
the garden
joli
pretty

Questions & Answers about Le jardin est joli.

What does each word in Le jardin est joli mean in English?
Le is the masculine singular definite article meaning "the." Jardin translates to "garden." Est is the third-person singular form of "être," meaning "is." Joli is an adjective meaning "pretty" or "nice."
How is the adjective joli correctly used in this sentence?
In French, adjectives that describe the subject via a linking verb like être appear as predicate adjectives after the verb. In Le jardin est joli, joli follows est to describe the garden’s quality, similar to saying "The garden is pretty" in English.
Does the adjective joli change form based on the noun it describes?
Yes. In French, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun. Since jardin is masculine singular, the masculine form joli is used. If the noun were feminine (for example, la maison), the adjective would change to jolie.
What role does the definite article Le play in this sentence?
Le indicates that a specific garden is being referred to, not just any garden. It is the masculine singular definite article, comparable to "the" in English, and signals that the noun jardin is a particular, identifiable entity in the context.
How is the verb est functioning, and why is it important?
Est is the conjugated form of être for the third-person singular subject jardin. It functions as the linking verb in the sentence, connecting the subject to its descriptive characteristic. Without est, the sentence would lack the necessary verb to complete the thought in French, just as "is" does in English.
How could you transform Le jardin est joli into a question?
There are a couple of common ways. One way is to use inversion: Le jardin est-il joli ? Alternatively, you can use the est-ce que structure: Est-ce que le jardin est joli ? Both forms ask "Is the garden pretty?" in French.
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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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