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Le ciel est gris.

Le ciel est gris.
The sky is gray.
FromLesson 15inHardcore French
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Breakdown of Le ciel est gris.

être
to be
gris
gray
le ciel
the sky
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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 Le ciel est gris.

What does Le mean in Le ciel est gris?
Le is the masculine singular definite article in French, equivalent to "the" in English. It indicates that the speaker is referring to a specific, known sky.
What is the role of est in the sentence?
Est is the third-person singular form of the verb être, which means "is". It functions as a linking verb that connects the subject (ciel) to its description (gris).
How does the adjective gris agree with the noun ciel?
In French, adjectives must agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify. Since ciel is a masculine singular noun, gris appears in its masculine singular form. (If the noun were feminine, the adjective might change—though for gris, the feminine form is grise.)
Why does the adjective gris come after the noun in this sentence?
In French, many adjectives, including colors, typically follow the noun they modify. This is why the order is ciel (noun) then gris (adjective), unlike in English where adjectives generally come before the noun.
What is the overall grammatical structure of Le ciel est gris?
The sentence follows a simple subject-verb-adjective structure. Le ciel is the subject (with its definite article), est is the linking verb, and gris is the predicate adjective that describes the subject.