Agreement of the adjective, palpitant

Frank C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

In the phrase, "Bonjour Lucile, nous assistons en direct à un début de course palpitant...", 'palpitant' seems to agree with 'début' instead of 'course'. I would think that the course is thrilling rather than its début. Is it because le début de course is a compound noun and, if so, the agreement would always be with the principle part, in this case début ?

This question relates to:French dictation exercise "Live from the Olympic rowing event"

Dictation exercise C1

Asked 5 months ago

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CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Frank,

Although the 'course' can indeed be 'palpitante', in grammar the adjective has to agree with the subject which is 'le début de course'.

At this point, we wouldn't know whether the whole of the 'course' has been 'palpitante'.

Bonne Continuation !

Like15 months ago

Frank C. asked:

Agreement of the adjective, palpitant

In the phrase, "Bonjour Lucile, nous assistons en direct à un début de course palpitant...", 'palpitant' seems to agree with 'début' instead of 'course'. I would think that the course is thrilling rather than its début. Is it because le début de course is a compound noun and, if so, the agreement would always be with the principle part, in this case début ?

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