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Le ciel est clair.

Le ciel est clair.
The sky is clear.
FromLesson 15inHardcore French

Breakdown of Le ciel est clair.

être
to be
clair
clear
le ciel
the sky

Questions & Answers about Le ciel est clair.

What does le ciel mean and what is its grammatical gender?
Le ciel translates to "the sky" in English. In this phrase, ciel is a masculine noun. This gender determines the form of any adjectives or articles that accompany it.
Why is the adjective clair in its current form, and would it change with a different noun?
The adjective clair means "clear" and must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Since ciel is masculine singular, clair remains in its masculine singular form. If you were describing a feminine noun, the adjective might have a different ending if required by the rules of adjective agreement.
What is the role of est in this sentence, and how is it conjugated?
Est is the third-person singular form of the verb être, which means "to be." It functions as the linking verb to connect the subject le ciel and the adjective clair. This conjugation matches the singular subject and follows the standard subject-verb agreement in French.
Why is the definite article le used before ciel in this sentence?
In French, the definite article le is used to refer to a specific, commonly recognized entity—in this case, "the sky." It’s a typical usage when talking about natural or general phenomena, much like saying "the sun" or "the weather" in English.
How would you change Le ciel est clair into a negative sentence?
To form a negative sentence in French, you typically wrap the verb with ne and pas. Therefore, the negative version of the sentence would be Le ciel n'est pas clair, which means "The sky is not clear." The ne...pas structure is essential for negation in standard 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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