elle a une collection de chapeaux impressionnante ?

Question

Anyone have an opinion on this please ? Is there any ambiguity in French ?

"elle a une collection de chapeaux impressionnante." Surely this should be: "elle a une collection de chapeaux impressionnants."

It is the hats that are impressive, not the collection.

If the collection was impressive, it should have been: Elle a une collection impressionnante de chapeaux, or possibly

Elle a une impressionante collection de chapeaux ( don't think this second one is as good, but it may be ok).

Thanks, Paul..

Accepted Answer

Hi Paul,
you can say both
Elle a une collection impressionnante de chapeaux 
or
Elle a une collection de chapeaux impressionnante 
and the adjective 'impressionnant' can refer to the collection in both sentences.
Bonne Continuation!

Answer

To add to what Cécile said, it would be possibly ambiguous if the collection was of a feminine noun. E.g. "Elle a une collection de robes impressionantes" (she has a collection of impressive dresses) would sound just like "Elle a une collection de robes impressionante" (she has an impressive collection of dresses), but luckily in this case where the collection is of hats (masculine) the pronunciation of impressionant(e) instead of impressionant(s) makes it clear that it is the collection that is impressive, and not necessarily the hats themselves (some of which might be ordinary).