Learn Hardcore French: Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague, mais elle l’aime autant. - Marie’s necklace is less expensive than her ring, but she likes it just as much.

Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague, mais elle l’aime autant.

Marie’s necklace is less expensive than her ring, but she likes it just as much.

Breakdown of Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague, mais elle l’aime autant.

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Questions & Answers about Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague, mais elle l’aime autant.

Why is it “Le collier de Marie” and not something like “Marie’s collier” as in English?

French does not have a possessive ’s like English.
To express possession, French normally uses de + noun:

le collier de Marie = Marie’s necklace
la voiture de Paul = Paul’s car

So “Le collier de Marie” literally means “the necklace of Marie.”
You cannot say “Marie’s collier” in French; you must use de.

Why is there a definite article in “Le collier de Marie”? Why not just “Collier de Marie”?

In French, singular countable nouns almost always need an article (definite, indefinite, or partitive).

Le collier de Marie = Marie’s necklace (that specific one)
Un collier de Marie = one of Marie’s necklaces (not the only one)

Here the sentence talks about one specific known necklace, so the definite article le is required.
Leaving the article out (“Collier de Marie”) is not standard French.

Why is it “moins cher que” and not something like “plus bon marché que” or “moins de cher que”?

To compare adjectives in French, you normally use:

plus + adjective + que = more … than
moins + adjective + que = less … than
aussi + adjective + que = as … as

So:

moins cher que = less expensive than
plus cher que = more expensive than

You do not add de before the adjective in this structure.
“Plus bon marché que” is possible but much less common and a bit heavier; cher is the usual, simple adjective for expensive.

Why is it “cher” and not “chère” in “Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague”?

The adjective cher / chère must agree with the noun it describes, which here is le collier (masculine singular).

Forms of cher:

cher – masculine singular
chère – feminine singular
chers – masculine plural
chères – feminine plural

Since collier is masculine singular, we use cher:

Le collier de Marie est moins cher… ✔
Even though bague is feminine, the adjective here is describing le collier, not la bague. That’s why it doesn’t become chère.

What does “que” mean in “moins cher que sa bague”?

Here que means “than” in a comparison. The pattern is:

moins + adjective + que + noun
- moins cher que sa bague = less expensive than her ring

So que links the thing being compared (le collier) to the reference of comparison (sa bague), just like than in English.

Who does “sa” in “sa bague” refer to—Marie or someone else?

In this sentence, sa refers to Marie.
So sa bague means “her ring” (Marie’s ring).

The context tells us that the comparison is between Marie’s necklace and her ring, so both objects belong to the same person, Marie.

Why is it “sa bague” and not “son bague”, since Marie is female?

In French, possessive adjectives (son / sa / ses) agree with the gender and number of the thing possessed, not the owner.

son
- masculine singular noun
sa
- feminine singular noun
ses
- any plural noun

Here bague is feminine singular, so we must use sa:

sa bague = her ring / his ring (feminine noun)
If the noun were masculine, we’d use son regardless of whether the owner is male or female:
son collier = her necklace or his necklace

So sa bague is correct because bague is feminine.

Who does “elle” refer to in “mais elle l’aime autant”, and why is it elle?

Here elle refers to Marie.

French subject pronouns:

il = he / it (masc.)
elle = she / it (fem.)

Since Marie is a woman, we use the feminine pronoun elle.
So mais elle l’aime autant = but she likes it just as much (she = Marie).

What does the “l’” stand for in “elle l’aime autant”, and why is it shortened?

l’ is a direct object pronoun replacing a previously mentioned noun.
In this sentence, it replaces le collier:

elle l’aime autant ≈ she likes it just as much (as the ring)

Direct object pronouns for singular nouns are:

le = him / it (masculine)
la = her / it (feminine)
l’ = le or la before a vowel or mute h

We would expect le because collier is masculine: elle le aime autant.
But because aime starts with a vowel, le becomes l’ (elision):

elle l’aime autant ✔
This is done to make pronunciation smoother.

Why is it “elle l’aime autant” and not “elle aime l’autant” or “elle aime autant le collier”?

Pronoun position:
In French, object pronouns (like le, la, l’) normally go before the conjugated verb:
- elle l’aime = she likes it
  Not: elle aime le / elle aime l’ (incorrect)
“l’” is the pronoun, not part of “autant”:
l’ is directly attached to aime, not to autant.
So elle l’aime autant = she likes it as much.
Possible alternative word order:
You could say, with a full noun instead of a pronoun:
- Elle aime autant le collier que la bague.
  She likes the necklace as much as the ring.
But once you replace le collier with a pronoun, it must go in front of aime:
- Elle l’aime autant (que sa bague).

What is the difference between “autant” and “aussi”? Why not say “elle l’aime aussi”?

autant and aussi both relate to “as much/as … as”, but they are used differently:

autant is used with verbs to compare quantities / degrees of an action:
- Elle l’aime autant (que sa bague).
  = She loves it as much (as she loves her ring).
aussi is used with adjectives or adverbs:
- Ce collier est aussi cher que l’autre.
  = This necklace is as expensive as the other.

Elle l’aime aussi simply means “She also likes it / she likes it too” (an additional fact), not “She likes it as much as …”.
To express the comparison of degree of love, you need autant (que).

Where is the “que” after “autant”? Shouldn’t it be “autant que sa bague”?

The full comparison is indeed:

Elle l’aime autant que sa bague.
= She likes it as much as she likes her ring.

In the given sentence, “que sa bague” is omitted because it is obvious from context. This is very common in French (and English):

Elle l’aime autant.
literally: She likes it as much (as that other thing we’re talking about).

So “autant” here is elliptical; the full phrase would be autant que sa bague.

Could we say “Le collier de Marie est moins cher que la bague de Marie” instead of “que sa bague”?

Yes, grammatically that’s correct:

Le collier de Marie est moins cher que la bague de Marie.

But it’s heavier and more repetitive.
French generally prefers pronouns or shorter possessive forms when the owner is clear:

Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague. ✔ (more natural)

Since Marie has already been mentioned, sa bague is the normal way to say her ring here.

Is the “t” in “est” pronounced in “est moins cher”?

No. In “est moins cher”, there is no liaison after est, because the next word moins starts with a consonant sound [m]:

Pronunciation: /lə kɔ.lje də ma.ʁi ɛ mwɛ̃ ʃɛʁ/

You would hear the t of est only in a liaison before a vowel, e.g.:

Il est_aimé. → /il e t‿ɛ.me/

Is there any difference in meaning if we change the order and say “Marie aime autant son collier, mais il est moins cher que sa bague”?

The basic meaning is the same (necklace cheaper, but she likes it as much), but:

Original:
Le collier de Marie est moins cher que sa bague, mais elle l’aime autant.
Focus: first on price comparison, then on her feelings toward the necklace.
Alternative:
Marie aime autant son collier, mais il est moins cher que sa bague.
Focus: first on her equal affection, then adding as a somewhat contrasting fact that it’s cheaper.

Both are correct; the difference is mainly in emphasis and rhythm, not grammar.