Breakdown of Les fraises du marché sont chères, mais leur goût est magnifique.
Questions & Answers about Les fraises du marché sont chères, mais leur goût est magnifique.
What does du mean in les fraises du marché, and why is it not de le marché?
Why is it les fraises du marché and not just fraises du marché?
French usually needs an article in front of a noun, even when English does not.
- les fraises = the strawberries
- Dropping the article (∅ fraises du marché) is normally wrong in standard French (outside of some titles, lists, or telegram style).
So to talk about these strawberries in a normal sentence, you say les fraises du marché.
Why is it chères and not cher in les fraises du marché sont chères?
Why does chères have an accent grave (è)?
The accent changes both spelling and pronunciation:
- cher: e is pronounced like é (closed sound, similar to ay in day but shorter)
- chère / chères: è is an open e sound (more like e in bed).
Feminine forms are written chère / chères with è, not chere / cheres.
So chères is the correct feminine plural spelling.
Why does the sentence not say sont chères something (like sont chères les fraises) as in English are expensive?
Why is it leur goût and not leurs goûts or son goût?
Leur here is a possessive determiner meaning their.
- leur is used when the possessed thing is singular, even if the owners are plural
- leurs is used when the possessed things are plural
Here, the strawberries (plural owners) have one overall flavor:
- owners plural, thing singular → leur goût = their taste / flavor
You could say leurs goûts if you really meant several different tastes, but normally for food you talk about its overall flavor, so you keep goût singular and use leur.
Son goût would mean its taste / his taste / her taste, referring to a single owner, not to the strawberries as a group.
Why is goût singular when we are talking about several strawberries?
French often uses a singular noun when talking about a general quality shared by a plural subject.
The idea is: The strawberries’ flavor (as a whole) is magnificent, not each individual strawberry has its own separate taste.
So:
- Les fraises sont bonnes. → plural adjective for the berries themselves
- Leur goût est magnifique. → singular goût for the overall flavor they have.
Why is it magnifique and not magnifiques?
Can I say délicieux instead of magnifique? Would the grammar change?
Yes, you can; the meaning shifts slightly but the grammar follows the same rules of agreement.
- délicieux (delicious) is masculine singular and masculine plural
- délicieuse / délicieuses are the feminine forms
Since goût is masculine singular, you would say:
- Leur goût est délicieux.
Only the adjective changes; the structure of the sentence stays the same.
How do you pronounce the sentence Les fraises du marché sont chères, mais leur goût est magnifique?
Approximate pronunciation (French-style IPA, then a rough English guide):
Les fraises du marché → /le fʁɛz dy maʁʃe/
- les → lay
- fraises → frehz (final s = z sound)
- du → dy (like dü)
- marché → mar-shay
- sont → nasal sohn (the t is silent here)
- chères → shair (final s silent)
mais → /mɛ/ → meh
leur goût est magnifique → /lœʁ ɡu ɛ maɲifik/
- leur → between lur and lœr
- goût → goo (final t silent, the û lengthens the sound a bit)
- est → eh (here the t is silent)
- magnifique → ma-nyi-feek
Spoken smoothly, you get something like:
Leh frehz dü mar-shay sohn shair, meh lur goo eh ma-nyi-feek.
Could you change the order and say leur goût magnifique est…?
You can say leur magnifique goût or leur goût magnifique, but the meaning changes slightly:
- leur goût est magnifique: you are making a statement about their taste (their taste is magnificent).
- leur magnifique goût: you are describing the noun more compactly (their magnificent taste), usually as part of a larger sentence.
For example:
- Les fraises du marché sont chères, mais leur magnifique goût me plaît beaucoup.
→ …but their magnificent taste pleases me a lot.
In the original sentence, leur goût est magnifique is the most natural way to make a clear, direct comment about the taste.
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