Liaison is governing the use of gender modification of tout for tout+adjective

Leslie S.B2Kwiziq community member

Liaison is governing the use of gender modification of tout for tout+adjective

I think I have this right, and this may have been stated before. I was confused by the two examples below, as were other people; the question being, why doesn't tout change to toute because it is modifying a feminine adjective? I realized that the whole point is to always ensure that the speaker says the "t" at the end of the word >. In these two examples, the speaker will automatically say the t sound because of the rules of liaison, so no gender modification is necessary. In speaking, we just need to know to always say tout with the hard t at the end, regardless of spelling. It would be easy to make a mistake in writing however. Did I get this right?

Sa sœur est tout heureuse de sa nouvelle maison.His sister is very happy with her new house.La Tour Eiffel est tout illuminée.The Eiffel Tower is completely lit up.
Asked 4 years ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Leslie,

That's right! Remember that it applies to 'tout/toute' + feminine adjective (completely/very + adjective).

Attention: tout / tous + masculine adjective

Les enfants sont tous ([toos]) excités the children are all excited 

Les enfants sont tout ([toot]) excités = the children are very excited    

Bonne journée! 

Liaison is governing the use of gender modification of tout for tout+adjective

I think I have this right, and this may have been stated before. I was confused by the two examples below, as were other people; the question being, why doesn't tout change to toute because it is modifying a feminine adjective? I realized that the whole point is to always ensure that the speaker says the "t" at the end of the word >. In these two examples, the speaker will automatically say the t sound because of the rules of liaison, so no gender modification is necessary. In speaking, we just need to know to always say tout with the hard t at the end, regardless of spelling. It would be easy to make a mistake in writing however. Did I get this right?

Sa sœur est tout heureuse de sa nouvelle maison.His sister is very happy with her new house.La Tour Eiffel est tout illuminée.The Eiffel Tower is completely lit up.

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