La question est un peu difficile.

to be

Breakdown of La question est un peu difficile.

• la question: the question
• difficile: difficult
• un peu: somewhat

Questions & Answers about La question est un peu difficile.

Why is it la question and not just question?

In French, nouns usually need an article in ordinary sentences. La is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la question = the question

Unlike English, French often does not drop the article in this kind of statement.

How do I know that question is feminine?

You learn the gender as part of the noun: la question, not just question.

Because question is feminine, it uses:

• the article la
• feminine adjective forms when needed

In this sentence, difficile looks the same in masculine and feminine singular, so you do not see a spelling change. But the noun is still feminine.

Why is the verb est used here?

Est is the he/she/it form of the verb être, which means to be.

The subject is la question, which is a singular noun, so French uses the singular form:

• la question est = the question is

This is just the normal present tense of être.