Learn Hardcore French: Cette salle a une ambiance sonore agréable.

ce – before a masculine singular noun starting with a consonant: ce livre
cet – before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or mute h: cet homme, cet arbre
cette – before any feminine singular noun: cette voiture, cette idée, cette salle
ces – for all plural nouns (masculine or feminine): ces maisons, ces livres

Since salle is feminine singular, the correct form is cette salle.

Why does the sentence use a (from avoir) instead of est (from être)?

French often uses avoir (to have) plus a noun to describe a characteristic of a person, place, or thing, whereas English might use to be plus an adjective.

Cette salle a une ambiance sonore agréable.
Literally: This room has a pleasant sound ambiance.
Natural English: This room has a pleasant acoustic atmosphere / The sound environment in this room is pleasant.

You could say Cette salle est agréable, but that describes the room as pleasant in general (lighting, temperature, comfort), not specifically the sound atmosphere.

Using a une ambiance sonore agréable focuses the description on that specific quality (the sound environment) as something the room has.

Why do we say a une ambiance instead of il y a une ambiance?

Both are possible, but they focus slightly differently:

Cette salle a une ambiance sonore agréable.
The room is the subject that has this ambiance. It sounds a bit more direct and descriptive.
Il y a une ambiance sonore agréable dans cette salle.
Literally: There is a pleasant sound ambiance in this room.
Here, the structure il y a introduces the existence of something in a place. It’s like saying: In this room, there exists such an atmosphere.

Meaning-wise they are very close.
Stylistically:

Cette salle a… feels a bit more compact, sometimes a touch more formal or written.
Il y a… dans cette salle is very neutral and common in speech and writing.

What exactly does ambiance sonore mean? Is it a fixed expression?

Ambiance on its own means atmosphere, in the sense of overall feel / mood of a place.

Sonore means related to sound / acoustic, so ambiance sonore is the sound environment of a place: noise level, echoes, how comfortable it is to listen in that room, etc.

It’s not a strict fixed idiom, but it is a very natural collocation:

ambiance sonore agréable – pleasant sound atmosphere
ambiance sonore apaisante – soothing sound atmosphere
ambiance sonore bruyante – noisy sound atmosphere

So ambiance sonore is a normal, slightly technical/precise way to talk about how a place sounds, not how it looks or feels in general.

Could we just say une ambiance agréable and drop sonore?

Yes, you could say:

Cette salle a une ambiance agréable.

That would mean the room has a pleasant atmosphere overall (it feels nice to be there), without specifying that you’re talking about sound.

By adding sonore, you narrow the meaning:

ambiance agréable – nice feeling in general (lighting, people, comfort, etc.)
ambiance sonore agréable – nice acoustic / sound environment in particular

So dropping sonore changes the focus from sound to a more general atmosphere.

Why is the order ambiance sonore agréable and not ambiance agréable sonore, or agréable ambiance sonore?

In French, most adjectives come after the noun, and there is a typical preference for the order of multiple adjectives:

The adjective closer to the noun is often more objective / descriptive.
The adjective further from the noun is often more subjective / evaluative.

Here:

sonore – descriptive: tells us what kind of ambiance (a sound-related ambiance).
agréable – evaluative: says it is pleasant (subjective opinion).

So:

une ambiance sonore agréable
→ an ambiance that is sound-related, and that is pleasant.

Other possibilities:

une agréable ambiance sonore – possible stylistically, but sounds more literary/poetic and puts more emphasis on agréable.
une ambiance agréable sonore – unusual and awkward; not standard.

So une ambiance sonore agréable is the most natural word order for everyday French.

What nuance does sonore have compared with words like bruyant or calme?

sonore: sound-related, about the acoustic quality in general. Neutral word; does not mean good or bad by itself.
- ambiance sonore – the sound ambiance, soundscape.
bruyant(e): noisy, implies too much noise, often unpleasant.
- une salle bruyante – a noisy room.
calme: calm / quiet, emphasizes low noise and tranquility.
- une salle calme – a quiet room.

In ambiance sonore agréable:

sonore says you’re talking about sound.
agréable tells you that this sound environment is pleasant, so not too noisy and not unpleasantly silent—nicely balanced, good acoustics, etc.

Could we just say Cette salle est agréable? How is it different?

Yes, you can say:

Cette salle est agréable. – This room is pleasant.

Differences in meaning:

Cette salle est agréable.
→ A broad judgment: the room is comfortable / nice to be in overall. It could be about light, temperature, decor, people, and maybe sound too.
Cette salle a une ambiance sonore agréable.
→ Very specific: the sound aspect of the room (noise level, echoes, acoustics) is pleasant.

So:

If you want to highlight acoustics, keep ambiance sonore agréable.
If you want a general positive comment about the room, Cette salle est agréable works and is simpler.

How do the adjectives agree grammatically in une ambiance sonore agréable?

Let’s break down the phrase:

une – feminine singular article
ambiance – feminine singular noun
sonore – adjective agreeing with ambiance (feminine singular)
agréable – adjective also agreeing with ambiance (feminine singular)

Both sonore and agréable have the same form in masculine and feminine singular, so you don’t see the agreement in spelling here.

To see the pattern more clearly, look at plurals:

Singular: une ambiance sonore agréable – a pleasant sound ambiance
Plural: des ambiances sonores agréables – pleasant sound ambiances

Now both adjectives take -s to agree with the plural noun ambiances.

How would this sentence change for a masculine noun, for example ce couloir (this corridor)?

With a masculine noun like couloir (corridor), the rest of the phrase stays almost the same, because sonore and agréable do not change form in the masculine singular:

Ce couloir a une ambiance sonore agréable.
→ This corridor has a pleasant sound ambiance.

Changes:

cette salle → ce couloir (demonstrative changes to masculine singular ce)
The rest, a une ambiance sonore agréable, is unchanged because:
- ambiance is still feminine singular.
- The adjectives still agree with ambiance, not with couloir.

How should I pronounce Cette salle a une ambiance sonore agréable?

Here is an approximate breakdown (in IPA and then approximate English hints):

Cette – /sɛt/ – like set but with a more open e.
salle – /sal/ – like sal in salad but with a clear l and no final “e” sound.
→ cette salle: /sɛt sal/
a – /a/ – like the a in father.
une – /yn/ – rounded u, like German ü; lips rounded, tongue high.
ambiance – /ɑ̃bjɑ̃s/ – nasal vowel ɑ̃ (like ahn but nasal), then bjɑ̃s.
→ une ambiance: /yn ɑ̃bjɑ̃s/
sonore – /sɔnɔʁ/ – soh-nor, with a French r at the end (guttural, at the back of the throat).
agréable – /aɡʁeabl/ – roughly ah-gray-abl, with French r in ɡʁe.

Whole sentence (smoothly):

/sɛt sal a yn ɑ̃bjɑ̃s sɔnɔʁ aɡʁeabl/

Liaisons:

No required liaison between salle and a.
Between sonore agréable, a liaison (linking the r to the next vowel) is possible but not obligatory; most speakers just say the words separately.

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal? In what kind of context would you expect it?

The sentence is neutral to slightly formal and sounds a bit technical or descriptive, because of ambiance sonore.

You might find it:

in an acoustic report or technical description of a room,
in a review of a concert hall, cinema, or meeting room,
in more careful, written descriptions of spaces (architecture, event planning, etc.).

In everyday casual speech, someone might say instead:

Cette salle est calme. – This room is quiet.
On est bien dans cette salle. – It feels nice in this room.
Le son est agréable dans cette salle. – The sound is pleasant in this room.

Cette salle a une ambiance sonore agréable is great when you explicitly want to talk about the sound environment in a somewhat precise way.