Learn Hardcore French: Elle a un peu honte de son accent, mais sa plus grande déception serait de ne pas essayer. - She is a little ashamed of her accent, but her biggest disappointment would be not to try.

Elle a honte de son accent.
= She is ashamed of / embarrassed about her accent.
This is the most natural, everyday way to say it.
Elle est honteuse (de son accent).
= She is ashamed / she feels ashamed (more formal or more emotional, often stronger, can sound like “she is a shameful person” depending on context).

In most contexts for “she’s a bit embarrassed about her accent,” you’d say elle a un peu honte de son accent, not elle est un peu honteuse.

What exactly does avoir honte de mean, and what can follow de?

Avoir honte de means “to be ashamed of / embarrassed about.”

The de is required and is followed by:

a noun:
- Elle a honte de son accent. = She’s ashamed of her accent.
- Il a honte de ses erreurs. = He’s ashamed of his mistakes.
or an infinitive:
- Elle a honte de parler. = She’s ashamed to speak.
- J’ai honte de ne pas comprendre. = I’m ashamed of not understanding.

So the pattern is: avoir honte de + [noun / infinitive].

What nuance does un peu add in elle a un peu honte de son accent?

Un peu means “a little / a bit.”

So:

Elle a honte de son accent.
= She is ashamed / embarrassed about her accent (no indication of degree).
Elle a un peu honte de son accent.
= She is a bit embarrassed about her accent (softens it; it’s not extreme).

It makes the feeling sound milder and more tentative.

Why is it son accent and not sa accent, since elle is feminine?

In French, possessive adjectives (son / sa / ses) agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed, not with the person who owns it.

accent is masculine singular → son accent (his accent / her accent).
If the noun were feminine singular, you’d use sa:
- sa voix = her voice / his voice.
Plural nouns take ses:
- ses accents = her accents / his accents.

So elle (feminine subject) + accent (masculine noun) → son accent.

What’s the difference between mais and pourtant, and could we use pourtant here?

Both mais and pourtant express contrast, but:

mais = “but”
Very common, neutral, links two clauses directly.
- Elle a un peu honte…, mais sa plus grande déception serait…
pourtant = “yet / however / nevertheless”
Often feels a bit stronger or more contrastive, and more likely to start a clause or sentence on its own.
- Elle a un peu honte de son accent. Pourtant, sa plus grande déception serait de ne pas essayer.

In the original sentence, mais is the natural choice as a simple conjunction inside one sentence. You could split it into two sentences and start the second with Pourtant, but that slightly changes the rhythm and emphasis.

Why is it sa plus grande déception and not la plus grande déception?

Here we’re talking about her greatest disappointment, so French uses a possessive adjective (sa) instead of the definite article (la):

sa plus grande déception = her greatest disappointment
la plus grande déception = the greatest disappointment (in general, not tied to “her” specifically)

English uses “her” vs “the”; French does the same with sa vs la.

Remember: sa agrees with déception (feminine singular), not with who owns it.

What does déception mean exactly? Is it a false friend with English “deception”?

Yes, déception is a classic false friend.

French déception = disappointment
- C’est une grande déception. = It’s a big disappointment.
English deception = French tromperie / duperie / mensonge
(the act of deceiving, trickery, lying)

So in this sentence, sa plus grande déception means “her greatest disappointment,” not anything to do with tricking or lying.

Why is the verb serait in the conditional, and what nuance does it add?

Serait is the conditional form of être (third person singular: il/elle serait).

Sa plus grande déception serait de ne pas essayer.
= Her greatest disappointment would be not to try.

Using the conditional here:

presents this as a hypothetical or projected disappointment, something that would be the worst if it happened.
is softer than a straight present:
- Sa plus grande déception est de ne pas essayer.
  sounds like it’s already a fact right now.

So serait matches the idea “would be” in English.

Why is it de ne pas essayer and not de ne essayer pas? Where do ne and pas go with an infinitive?

With an infinitive, ne…pas goes around the infinitive itself, not separated from it:

ne pas essayer = not to try
ne pas parler = not to speak
ne pas venir = not to come

When that infinitive is governed by de, the pattern is:

de ne pas + infinitive
- de ne pas essayer = of not trying
- de ne pas venir = of not coming

So:

❌ de ne essayer pas – incorrect word order
✅ de ne pas essayer – correct: ne…pas surrounds essayer.

Why do we need the de before ne pas essayer? Could we just say sa plus grande déception serait ne pas essayer?

No, you need the de here.

The structure is:
[noun] + de + infinitive
Just like in English you’d say “the decision to leave,” French says la décision de partir.

Similarly:

sa plus grande déception serait de ne pas essayer
= her greatest disappointment would be not to try.

So:

❌ sa plus grande déception serait ne pas essayer
✅ sa plus grande déception serait de ne pas essayer

Could we say ne pas essayer serait sa plus grande déception instead? Is that correct French?

Yes, Ne pas essayer serait sa plus grande déception is grammatically correct.

Difference:

Ne pas essayer serait sa plus grande déception.
= Not trying would be her greatest disappointment.
(puts focus first on not trying as the subject)
Sa plus grande déception serait de ne pas essayer.
= Her greatest disappointment would be not to try.
(starts from her greatest disappointment and then defines it)

Both are fine. The original version sounds a bit more natural in everyday speech.

Is there any special pronunciation point with honte in a honte?

Yes. Honte starts with a silent h (h muet), so there is liaison with the preceding verb a:

Elle a honte is pronounced roughly like: [ɛl a‿ɔ̃t]
You hear a smooth link between a and honte, as if it were a-onte.

Other notes:

The h is not pronounced.
Final -e in honte is mute; you just hear [ɔ̃t] (nasal on sound + t).