"This dress is light blue."
Translation:Cette robe est bleu clair.
27 Comments
Why is it not 'bleue' clair? Does the addition of light/clair nullify the need to use the feminine form of 'bleu' ?
Yes. When you use more than one adjective to designate a single color (like "light blue," "dark green," "pale pink" etc.), neither of the adjectives changes according to the noun it modifies. For example:
Il a les yeux bleu clair et les cheveux brun foncé.
"He has light blue eyes and dark brown hair."
Is what you're saying, then, is that the default form for any adjectives (when more than one) is the masculine form?
259
Here is another example of the same sentence only with an added cliché. Cette robe est bleue. Non, cette robe est bleu-clair! Oui? D'accord? Bien noté?
What's the reason for not choosing "pâle" instead of "clair"? Is there any special occasion for using these two words?
- 1695
"Bleu pâle" is also used with nearly the same frequency as "bleu clair" though the latter has a slight edge. So we won't be quibbling about the difference between clair vs. pâle or pale vs. light here. Source: Google Ngram Viewer.
What about:"Cette robe est bleue claire". Robe is feminine, so should the adjectives. Why "bleue claire" is incorrect.
Because when you use more than one adjective to designate a single color (like "light blue," "dark green," "pale pink" etc.), neither of the adjectives changes according to the noun it modifies.
why was "Cette robe-ci est bleu clair" marked as wrong ?
I've answered other questions during this lesson using the distinguishers -ci (here; making ce "this") and -la (there; making ce "that")
I suspect it'll probably be added.
There are important register distinctions: http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/this_that_in_french_ci_la.shtml
And it might be worth nothing that in practice adding the "-ci" constitutes but the slightest glimmer in usage: http://bit.ly/2KL7zXd (with "-là" only a bit more common).
I am more interested in the many variations of "this." There are many different ways to say it, so why is "cette" appropriate in this sentence?
Get the “robe bleu-clair” but not the ca robe.... Shouldn’t it be “cette robe”?
- 1695
There is no "ça robe". "Ça" is a pronoun -- not an adjective -- and it cannot be used in the way you indicate.
- 1695
French has a standard order of words. In English, it's "light blue" (not "blue light"). In French, it's "bleu clair" (not "clair bleu").
Ce/cet = masculine, use "cet" when the word starts with a vowel.
Cette = feminine
That's "light" as in "not heavy", so you'd be saying "the blue of the dress doesn't weigh much".
- 259
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