Questions & Answers about Paul est malin, mais il reste honnête.
What nuance does malin have compared to intelligent?
- Malin: clever in a practical, shrewd, sometimes sly way; can suggest trickiness or street smarts. Depending on tone/context, it can be admiring or slightly disapproving.
- Intelligent: cognitively smart, neutral/positive, no implication of slyness. Examples: Il est malin (He’s wily/savvy). Il est intelligent (He’s intelligent).
How do I say it if the person is female or plural? Is there anything irregular?
- Malin has an irregular feminine: masculine malin, feminine maligne; plurals: malins, malignes.
- Honnête is the same in masculine and feminine; add an s for plural: honnêtes. Examples:
- Pauline est maligne, mais elle reste honnête.
- Paul et Marie sont malins, mais ils restent honnêtes. Note: maligne is pronounced with a “ny” sound: [ma.liɲ].
How do you pronounce the whole sentence naturally? Any liaisons?