Does this mean numerous people and ancient cultures? I ask because I would have expected the phrase to be numerous ancient people and cultures but for that to be the case wouldn't anciennes have to be masculine to reflect the mixed gender of the group of nouns?
De nombreux peuples et cultures anciennes
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Tom A. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
De nombreux peuples et cultures anciennes
This question relates to:French dictation exercise "Saint Sylvester's Day's origins"
Asked 2 years ago
De nombreux peuples et cultures anciennes -- Numerous people (societies) and ancient cultures
In this sentence, anciennes clearly refers to "cultures", as you correctly remark. It is parsed as:
numerous (peoples and (ancient cultures)).
Theoretically, nombreux could refer to both, peuples as well as cultures anciennes. But, contextually, it makes more sense the other way around.
Kingsley W.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Might be worth chucking in a oxford comma and an alternate answer. If it's caught two people off guard then the context might not be that obvious.
Tom A. asked:
De nombreux peuples et cultures anciennes
Does this mean numerous people and ancient cultures? I ask because I would have expected the phrase to be numerous ancient people and cultures but for that to be the case wouldn't anciennes have to be masculine to reflect the mixed gender of the group of nouns?
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