Ma sœur a peur de glisser sur le carrelage mouillé.

Questions & Answers about Ma sœur a peur de glisser sur le carrelage mouillé.

Why does French use a peur here instead of a form of to be?

Because avoir peur is the normal French expression for to be afraid.

So:

  • Ma sœur a peur = My sister is afraid
  • literally, it is closer to My sister has fear

French often uses avoir where English uses to be.
You should learn avoir peur as a fixed expression.

Examples:

  • J’ai peur. = I’m afraid.
  • Ils ont peur du noir. = They’re afraid of the dark.
Why is there a de after a peur?

After avoir peur, French normally uses de before a verb or thing that causes the fear.

In this sentence:

  • a peur de glisser = is afraid of slipping

This is a very common pattern:

Examples:

  • Elle a peur de tomber. = She is afraid of falling.
  • Il a peur des chiens. = He is afraid of dogs.

So the de is required by the expression avoir peur de.

Why is glisser in the infinitive?

Because after de, when you talk about an action in a general way, French uses the infinitive.

So:

  • avoir peur de glisser = to be afraid of slipping

The infinitive works like English slipping / to slip in this kind of structure.

Other examples:

  • Elle essaie de dormir. = She is trying to sleep.
  • Nous évitons de parler trop vite. = We avoid speaking too fast.

Here, glisser is not conjugated because it is not the main verb of the sentence. The main verb is a from avoir.

What exactly does glisser mean?

Glisser means to slip or to slide.

In this sentence, the idea is to slip accidentally, especially because the floor is wet.

So:

  • glisser sur le carrelage mouillé = to slip on the wet tiled floor

It is close to slip, not exactly fall.
A person can glisser and maybe then tomber.

  • glisser = slip
  • tomber = fall
What does carrelage mean? Is it just tile?

Carrelage usually means tiled flooring or tiling.

In this sentence, le carrelage refers to the tiled floor surface, not just one tile.

So:

  • un carreau = a tile
  • le carrelage = the tiling / tiled floor / tile flooring

That is why sur le carrelage mouillé is best understood as on the wet tiled floor.

Why does the sentence say le carrelage and not just carrelage?

French usually needs an article where English sometimes does not.

So French says:

  • sur le carrelage mouillé

where English might say:

  • on wet tile
  • on the wet tiled floor

Using le here is completely normal because French generally uses articles with nouns much more often than English does.

Why is mouillé after carrelage?

In French, many adjectives come after the noun, and mouillé is one of them.

So:

  • le carrelage mouillé = the wet tiled floor

This noun + adjective order is very common:

  • une maison blanche = a white house
  • un sol glissant = a slippery floor

Some adjectives come before the noun, but mouillé normally comes after it.

Why is it mouillé and not mouillée?

Because mouillé agrees with carrelage, not with sœur.

Here:

Agreement patterns:

  • masculine singular: mouillé
  • feminine singular: mouillée
  • masculine plural: mouillés
  • feminine plural: mouillées

For example:

  • la route mouillée = the wet road
  • le sol mouillé = the wet floor

Even though sœur is feminine, mouillé describes the floor, not the sister.

How do you pronounce sœur?

Sœur is pronounced roughly like sur in British English fur, but the exact French vowel is a bit different.

A useful approximation is:

  • sœursuhr

A few things to notice:

  • the s is pronounced
  • the œu makes one vowel sound
  • the final r is the French r

Also, ma sœur is pronounced smoothly together, and in normal speech it sounds something like:

  • ma suhr
Does sur le carrelage mouillé mean on the wet tiled floor or because the tiled floor is wet?

Literally, it means on the wet tiled floor.

But in context, English naturally understands the cause too: she is afraid of slipping because the tiled floor is wet.

So the French phrase gives the location/surface directly, and the reason is implied.

Could this sentence also be said with tomber instead of glisser?

Yes, but the meaning would change slightly.

  • avoir peur de glisser = to be afraid of slipping
  • avoir peur de tomber = to be afraid of falling

In this sentence, glisser is more precise because a wet tiled floor especially makes you think of slipping.

Someone might slip and then fall, but the first danger here is glisser.

Why is there no word for her in My sister is afraid of slipping?

Because ma sœur already means my sister, so French does not need an extra possessive pronoun before the body or action here.

The sentence simply says what my sister is afraid of:

  • Ma sœur = my sister
  • a peur de glisser = is afraid of slipping

French does not need to say something like slipping herself. That would sound unnatural here. The meaning is already clear.

AI Language TutorTry it ↗
Your avatar
How does grammatical gender work in French?
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning French

Master French — from Ma sœur a peur de glisser sur le carrelage mouillé to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • AI tutor to answer your grammar questions