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Le magasin est fermé.

Le magasin est fermé.
The store is closed.
FromLesson 17inHardcore French

Breakdown of Le magasin est fermé.

être
to be
le magasin
the store
fermé
closed

Questions & Answers about Le magasin est fermé.

Why is magasin preceded by le and not la?
magasin is a masculine noun in French. The definite article le is used with singular masculine nouns. If the noun were feminine (for example, porte), you would say la porte instead.
Why do we say est fermé instead of just fermé?

French uses the verb être with the past participle (here fermé) to describe a state.

  • Le magasin est fermé literally means the store is closed (state).
  • If you said Le magasin ferme, you're using the present tense of fermer (“the store closes”), which indicates an action, not a current state.
Is fermé here an adjective or a passive past participle?
In this sentence, fermé functions as an adjective describing the state of le magasin (“closed”). It’s not a true passive construction because no agent is mentioned.
How do I form the negative, “the store is not closed”?

Insert ne before est and pas after it:
Le magasin n’est pas fermé.

How would you say “the stores are closed” in French?

Use les for plural, sont for the third-person plural of être, and add -s to fermé:
Les magasins sont fermés.

How do you ask “Is the store closed?” in French?

Two common ways:
1) With rising intonation:
Le magasin est fermé ?
2) By inversion:
Le magasin est-il fermé ?

How is est fermé pronounced? Do we pronounce the t in est?
Why doesn’t fermé show an extra -e or -s for agreement?

It actually does agree with magasin, which is masculine singular:

  • No extra -e (would be fermée) or -s (would be fermés).
    If the subject were feminine singular, you’d say fermée; if plural masculine, fermés; plural feminine, fermées.
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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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