Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.

What is the capital of Tunisia?

Please type your username.

Please type your E-Mail.

Please choose the appropriate section so the question can be searched easily.

Please choose suitable Keywords Ex: question, poll.

Type the description thoroughly and in details.

What is the capital of Tunisia?

Why does it take a masculine single on the predicate in a sentence that uses a feminine plural as its subject?

Because rouge, blanc et bleu sont les couleurs du drapeau américain

There is just one red, one white and one blue and they are substantives here.

Les couleurs sont au nombre de trois, le rouge, le blanc et le bleu. (three masculine nouns)

There is agreement when bleu or blanc are adjectives :

La couleur bleue du drapeau américain semble un peu plus foncée que celle du drapeau français.

La couleur blanche de cette maison est typique de la région.

but not when they are themselves qualified by another adjective or a noun:

La couleur bleu nuit de la tapisserie.

La couleur blanc cassé de cette robe.

The point to understand is that here you are not dealing with the colour adjectives but with the nouns of the colours, and that the indefinite article that is usually necessary (le rouge, le blanc, le bleu), is missing ; common nouns in French take the definite article and are not zero article nouns (as in English (red, white, blue)) ; it remains to know why they are missing.

The reason is that an enumeration is being made and it is often possible, as in English, to dispense with the articles in enumerations. Examples such as the following abound.

  • La rame passa par dessus bord et il n’y pu rien.
  • Rame et rameur passèrent par dessus bord et bientôt ne flottait plus que la rame.
  • Dans un couvert normal il faut mettre fourchette, couteau et verre près de l’assiette.

Note that you could also write the sentence as follows ;
– Les couleurs du drapeau américain sont le rouge, le blanc et le bleu.
This could be deemed a preferable style (see @ Stéphane Gimenez ‘s comment).

 

Leave a comment

What is the capital of Tunisia?