La peinture du plafond est blanche.

to be

Breakdown of La peinture du plafond est blanche.

• blanc: white
• de: of
• la peinture: the paint

Questions & Answers about La peinture du plafond est blanche.

Why is the noun peinture feminine in La peinture du plafond?

All French nouns ending in -ure are feminine. Therefore peinture takes the feminine definite article la.

What does du stand for in du plafond?

Du is the contraction of de + le. Here it expresses possession or a characteristic: literally “the paint of the ceiling.”

Why is the adjective blanche placed after the noun instead of before?

In French, most adjectives follow the noun they modify. Only a small group of adjectives (often remembered by the acronym BANGS: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size) precede the noun. Blanche is not in that group, so it comes after peinture.

Why is it blanche instead of blanc?

Adjectives in French must agree in gender and number with their noun. Since peinture is feminine singular, blanc becomes its feminine form blanche.

Could you say Le plafond est blanc instead?

Yes. Le plafond est blanc means But focuses on the paint covering the ceiling and emphasizes that the paint itself is white.