"My book is black."

Translation: Mon livre est noir.

[ikkiqyy]

what's the difference between "noir" and "noire"?

[DavidGi]

Go check this answer, it's the same thing :)
http://duolingo.com/#/comment/144033

[scooby509]

Could be worse, could be German.

[ikkiqyy]

Thank you!
It's really, really, complicated...

[Littlestrike]

Ikkiqyy, "noir" is used when describing masculine nouns (e.g. Le vin est noir) whereas "noire" is used when describing feminine nouns (e.g. La pomme est noire).

[QueenB]

why is it not "c'est"?

[QueenB]

When do you use "c'est"?

[northernguy]

Assuming you are referring to using c'est instead of est in this sentence it is because c'est translates as this is whereas what the sentence requires is simply is/est.

[tedceciledward]

Just a few days ago the exact sentence had "noire" for black. Why the difference?

[northernguy]

When the noun that noir modifies is masculine as in le livre then the adjective takes the masculine form noir . If the phrase was a black woman then it would be une femme noire because the adjective must agree with the noun. Une agrees with femme and so does noire.

[laurabingbong]

really helpful! thank you so much!

[kaydotkaydot]

difference between est and es?

[northernguy]

The verb to be ... être

Je suis....I am

Tu es.......You are (sing.)

Il,elle, est...He, She is

Nous sommes..We are

Vous êtes ......You are (pl) (formal sing.)

Ils, Elles, sont..They are

[guille18]

this is hard

[melsin]

why MON.. and not MA.. I thought MON was used before vowels..ie.. MON amie

[northernguy]

Livre is masculine therefore mon (masc.) is used instead of ma (fem).

Mon is substituted for ma only when ma is placed in front of a word starting with a vowel. Other than that mon/ma must agree with the noun they modify.

[Littlestrike]

Hi Melsin, in general, we use "mon" to describe nouns that are masculine (e.g. Mon livre est bon) unless in cases when that noun begins with a vowel (e.g. Ma animal est bon). We always use "Ma" to describe nouns that are feminine (e.g. Ma pomme est bonne).

[shortie_1149]

How am i supposed to know if it's feminine or masculine?