Le climat de cette ville est idéal pour une courte sieste l’après-midi.

Breakdown of Le climat de cette ville est idéal pour une courte sieste l’après-midi.

être
to be
la ville
the city
pour
for
de
of
cette
this
idéal
ideal
le climat
the climate
court
short
la sieste
the nap
l’après-midi
the afternoon
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Questions & Answers about Le climat de cette ville est idéal pour une courte sieste l’après-midi.

How do we break down Le climat de cette ville word by word?
  • Le = “the” (definite article, masculine singular)
  • climat = “climate” (masculine noun)
  • de = “of” or “from,” linking climat to cette ville
  • cette = “this” (demonstrative adjective, feminine singular)
  • ville = “city” (feminine noun)
    Altogether: “The climate of this city.”
Why is it de cette ville instead of just de la ville?
  • de la ville would mean “of the city” in a general sense.
  • de cette ville specifies which city: “of this city.”
  • We choose cette because ville is feminine singular (la ville).
What is the role of pour in pour une courte sieste?
  • pour is a preposition meaning “for” or “in order to.”
  • Here it links idéal to une courte sieste, indicating the purpose or suitability: “ideal for a short nap.”
Why do we say une courte sieste with courte before sieste, and could it go after instead?
  • courte is an adjective of size/length (part of the BAGS/BANGS group), so it normally comes before the noun.
  • You could technically say une sieste courte, but placing courte first is more idiomatic when emphasizing brevity.
Why is it une sieste and not la sieste in this context?
  • une is the indefinite article (“a”), because we’re talking about “a short nap” in general, not a specific one.
  • la sieste would refer to a particular nap previously identified.
Why is l’après-midi written with a contraction and hyphens, and what is its gender?
  • après-midi is a compound noun meaning “afternoon.”
  • It most often takes the masculine article le, which contracts before a vowel to l’l’après-midi.
  • The hyphens are standard in French compounds.
  • Gender is technically variable, but usage is overwhelmingly masculine.
Why is there no extra preposition before l’après-midi (like dans l’après-midi)?
  • French often uses a noun with its article directly as a time adverbial: faire une sieste l’après-midi = “to take a nap in the afternoon.”
  • You can say dans l’après-midi (“during the afternoon”) or pendant l’après-midi, but dropping the extra preposition is more concise and idiomatic here.
How does adjective agreement work for idéal in Le climat… est idéal?
  • idéal must agree in gender and number with its subject climat.
  • climat is masculine singular, so we use idéal (masculine singular).
  • If the subject were feminine (e.g. la température), you’d say est idéale.