Breakdown of Dans notre classe, Paul est bavard, mais sa sœur est plus bavarde encore.
Questions & Answers about Dans notre classe, Paul est bavard, mais sa sœur est plus bavarde encore.
In French, dans is the normal preposition for being inside a physical space like a room or a class.
- dans notre classe = in our classroom (inside the room / group)
- en notre classe is ungrammatical here.
- à notre classe would mean something like to our class (as in to our course or to our lesson), not in our class.
So whenever you mean physically in a class / in a classroom, use dans:
- Dans ma classe, il y a 20 élèves. = In my class, there are 20 students.
French adjectives used after être (to be) do not take an article:
- Paul est bavard. = Paul is talkative.
- Elle est intelligente. = She is intelligent.
- Ils sont heureux. = They are happy.
You only use an article if it’s a noun, not an adjective:
- Paul est un bavard. = Paul is a chatterbox. (here bavard is a noun)
In your sentence, bavard is an adjective describing Paul’s character, so no article is needed.
bavard (masc.) / bavarde (fem.) mainly means talkative or chatty.
- It often has a slightly negative nuance in school contexts: someone who talks too much, who disturbs the class.
- In other contexts, it can be more neutral or even mildly positive: friendly, likes to talk.
In « Paul est bavard, mais sa sœur est plus bavarde encore », it probably suggests that both talk too much in class, with a mildly critical or amused tone.
French adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe:
- Paul is masculine → bavard
- sa sœur is feminine → bavarde (add -e)
Singular:
- un garçon bavard
- une fille bavarde
Plural:
- des garçons bavards
- des filles bavardes
So the change from bavard to bavarde is simply grammatical agreement with Paul vs sa sœur.
Possessive adjectives in French agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed, not with the owner.
- Paul is masculine, but the noun sœur (sister) is feminine.
- Feminine singular noun → use sa.
So:
- sa sœur = his sister / her sister
- son frère = his brother / her brother
Note that sa can mean either his or her; you need context to know whose sister it is.
Here, context tells us it’s Paul’s sister: Paul is chatty, but his sister is even more chatty.
- plus bavarde = more talkative
- plus bavarde encore = even more talkative / more talkative still
The word encore here adds emphasis: the sister is not just a bit more talkative; she is even more talkative than Paul, to a noticeable degree.
Without encore:
- Sa sœur est plus bavarde. = His sister is more talkative.
With encore:
- Sa sœur est plus bavarde encore. = His sister is even more talkative (than he is).
Yes, both are possible and correct:
- Elle est encore plus bavarde.
- Elle est plus bavarde encore.
They both mean “she is even more talkative”.
Encore plus + adjective is slightly more common in everyday speech:
- Il est encore plus grand que toi.
- C’est encore plus difficile.
plus … encore feels a bit more literary or stylistic, but it’s still very normal French.
French comparatives often use plus … que:
- Elle est plus bavarde que Paul. = She is more talkative than Paul.
In your sentence, the comparison is understood from context:
- Paul est bavard, mais sa sœur est plus bavarde encore.
The first part gives the reference (Paul is chatty).
The second part implies “more chatty than Paul” without repeating que Paul. Repeating it would be correct but a bit heavy:
- Paul est bavard, mais sa sœur est encore plus bavarde que lui. (also correct)
Here, bavard / bavarde is used as a predicate adjective after the verb être:
- Paul est bavard. = Paul is talkative.
- Sa sœur est bavarde. = His sister is talkative.
This is the normal structure in French: [subject] + être + [adjective]
Adjectives only come before the noun when they are attributive and belong to certain common groups (e.g. grand, petit, beau, bon, mauvais, jeune, vieux, etc.):
- un grand garçon, une belle maison
But with être, you keep the pattern:
- La maison est belle.
- Le garçon est grand.
- Paul est bavard.
Yes:
- Paul est bavard. → adjective: Paul is talkative.
- Paul est un bavard. → noun: Paul is a chatterbox / a talker.
Using the noun un bavard puts a bit more emphasis on his personality type, often slightly critical or joking, like labeling him:
- C’est vraiment un bavard ! = He really is a chatterbox!
Pronunciation points:
- plus before a consonant is usually pronounced [ply] (you hear the s):
- plus bavarde → often [ply bavard] (the s is pronounced; there is a liaison in careful speech: [ply‿bavard])
- bavarde → [ba-vard] (final -e not pronounced, but it affects the preceding consonant /d/ slightly)
- encore → [ɑ̃-kɔʀ] (nasal an, then kor)
So you’ll typically hear something like:
- [dɑ̃ nɔtʀ klas | pɔl ɛ bavard | mɛ sa sœʀ ɛ ply‿bavard ɑ̃kɔʀ]
(The liaison in plus bavarde is optional in informal speech, but common.)
Not in the same way.
- encore here means even (more).
- aussi usually means also / too, or as … as.
Compare:
- Paul est bavard et sa sœur est bavarde aussi.
= Paul is talkative and his sister is talkative too. (no comparison of degree) - Paul est bavard, mais sa sœur est plus bavarde encore.
= Paul is talkative, but his sister is even more talkative.
So aussi would change the meaning: it would no longer say that the sister is more talkative, only that she is also talkative.