Learn Hardcore French: Elle porte une robe bleue qui met son visage en valeur. - She is wearing a blue dress that highlights her face.

Here, porte is the third-person singular present tense of porter, which means “to wear” (as in clothing). The verb mettre can also mean “to put on,” but in French you normally say mettre un vêtement when you’re putting it on. Once you’re already wearing it, you use porter.

Why is the dress described as une robe bleue instead of une bleue robe?

In French, most descriptive adjectives come after the noun they modify. Bleu is an adjective, so it follows robe. Only a handful of common adjectives (like grand, petit, jeune, vieux) can precede the noun.

Why is bleue spelled with an -e at the end?

French adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Robe is feminine and singular, so bleu takes an extra -e, becoming bleue to match.

What is the function of qui in qui met son visage en valeur?

Qui here is a relative pronoun. It replaces une robe bleue (the antecedent) and acts as the subject of the verb met in the relative clause. English uses “that” or “which” in this role.

What does the expression mettre en valeur mean?

Literally, mettre = “to put” and valeur = “value.” Together, mettre en valeur means “to highlight,” “to enhance” or “to show off.” So qui met son visage en valeur means “that highlights her face.”

Why is it son visage and not sa visage?

Visage is a masculine noun in French (le visage). French possessive adjectives agree in gender (and number) with the thing possessed, not the possessor. Since visage is masculine singular, we use son (his/her) rather than sa.

Could you rephrase qui met son visage en valeur in a simpler way?

Yes. You could say: qui met en valeur son visage (moving the object son visage after en valeur) or even qui le met en valeur if the dress (la robe) has already been mentioned, using the pronoun le to refer to son visage.

Is there any pronunciation tricky point between qui met?

No liaison occurs between qui and met because qui ends in a vowel sound /i/ and met begins with a consonant sound /m/. You simply pronounce them separately: /ki mɛ/.

Could you use qui met son visage en valeur to describe something else?

Absolutely. You can describe anything that enhances a face:

Son maquillage est discret, ce qui met son visage en valeur.
(“Her makeup is subtle, which highlights her face.”)
Les lunettes qu’elle porte mettent son visage en valeur.
(“The glasses she wears enhance her face.”)

This shows mettre en valeur is a versatile phrase for “making something look its best.”