"Les jupes sont petites."

Translation: The skirts are small.

[GypsyDavey]

"Little" is almost never used as a predicate in English in England. We would use "small", eg, The house was small. And we would also be most likely to say "The small skirts" rather than "The little skirts" unless talking about baby clothes.

[Jackjon]

Hi GypsyDavey. Learning French has shown me how little I know of my own (English) language, especially grammar. So I've been studying it in order to progress with my French. I understood a Predicate required a verb, otherwise it was an adjective. Am I mistaken? I'm still not much good at this. Thanks.

[iyyume]

how little? no no no. you know english. its just that some times translateing friench is confusing. like when i first started duo, i saw" la pomme rouge"... i thought it was "the apple red...

[9rachel85]

i skimmed through this it might help
http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/adjectives/predicate-adjective.html

[diegomagdaleno]

but if you write "The skirts are small" it is accepted too.

[ptoro]

Just like they should be ;)

[V.A.Z4French]

Anyone think anime?

[XxAriaxX]

Lmfaoo

[Dianasassy]

So this could mean that the skirts are small (size-wize) So if the skirts are medium (like in size) one would say, "Les jupes sont moyennes."?

[JanetBerry2]

Although I would say the skirt is a small or a medium

[Bapkin]

Scandalous

[daas88]

Isn't there a better word to denote a skirt being short instead of "petite"?

[Jackjon]

Les jupes sont courtes. But hey, be patient, dont jump the gun.

[daas88]

Thanks. Haha, I guess it's on one of the next lessons.

[Jackjon]

A few of the 1050. Bon chance mon ami!

[itz_Euphoria]

So how then do you say "mini skirts."

[Jackjon]

@Itz. Mini-Jupes or Minijupes..

[Maia_Francis19]

In English we say mini skirts . Not small skirts

[Lo-NelleSh]

why is it sometimes petits or sometimes petites

[Jackjon]

@ Lo. In French most adjectives must agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify.There are always exceptions. Petit modifies a singular masculine noun. Petits modifies a plural masculine noun. Petite modifies a singular feminine noun and Petites modifies a plural feminine noun.

[eike123]

The explanation "Placement of French adjectives" is not useful here. A good example sentence would be: "Monique porte une petite jupe rouge."

[n6zs]

There is not a one-size-fits-all rule about adjective placement. Most adjectives are placed after the noun they modify. Some are always placed before (the BAGS rule). http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/adjectives_4.htm And some might go either before or after but they have a different meaning depending on placement (before the noun, they are subjective; after the noun, they are objective).

[14rfe]

How would you say "the skirts are short"?

[Jackjon]

@14rife. Les jupes sont courtes

[rubenverga3]

the skirts are tiny didn't work :/

[SamDa13]

The french word for tiny is "minuscule", not "petite" so tiny would be wrong.

[MaddieWigb]

hahaha

[mia.b87]

why didn't it let me say "The skirts are short"?

[KimACRowden]

I thought grand and petit AFTER the noun were tall and short?

[Viet_Villar]

This sentence worries me.

[RBG-Bela]

This confused me because in the US we use "petite" to describe shorter pant legs.

[deactivated user]

the skirts are short should also be accepted

[Barry542665]

“Petite” in this context can mean both small and short so why aren’t both accepted?