Why singular for nez and tête?

Laura G.C1Kwiziq community member

Why singular for nez and tête?

I understand why we use the definite article for one and possessive adjective for the other buy why are they both singular?

Asked 1 year ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Laura,

"...les enfants avaient le nez collé contre la vitre..." + "... un énorme requin scie est passé au-dessus de leur tête".

-> In French, if you were to use the plural, it would sound as if they have several noses/heads each - which would sound rather strange. Instead, we use the singular to express that each child has one nose/head each and they are each different.

The same applies when using the singular form with "leur/leurs". Take a look here and follow the links included in the responses too: leur - leurs

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I'd love to help you, but I don't want to do the entire exercise until I get to the sentence you query about. If you post the sentence here, it's much easier for me to help you.

Why singular for nez and tête?

I understand why we use the definite article for one and possessive adjective for the other buy why are they both singular?

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