Spelling of the adverb tout/tout/toutes before an adjective in feminine form

Adrienne H.C1Kwiziq community member

Spelling of the adverb tout/tout/toutes before an adjective in feminine form

In the "Le 14 juillet en famille - Tout" quiz linked to Laura's Newletter of 16Jul21, there is one answer I do not understand.  It is in the sentence "Avant de se mettre en route, on se réunit tous devant la maison pour que ma grand-mère, toute habillée de bleu" .  I wrote "tout habillée" but the correction is given as "toute habillée".  I think that in this sentence, tout/toute is an adverb complementing the adjective, habillée. Habillée is in the feminine form to agree with "Elle". I thought in this situation, the adverb, tout, changed to agree ONLY when the adjective was feminine AND began with a consonant or an aspirated h……. I believe habillée begins with a mute h.  I would be grateful if you can explain why it should be toute habillée in this case.  Thank you.  A.
Asked 3 years ago
AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Adrienne !

First of all, sorry for the delay :)

And yes, you are absolutely correct: it should say "tout habillée", as per the rule. Thanks to you, the exercise has now been amended :)

Merci encore et bonne journée à vous ! 

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Adrienne, 

I want to deal with your query but it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I have found 2 exercises on the Kwiziq site on this topic but none entitled 'le 14 juillet en famille'.

Could you please pin the actual exercise and I can look at it?

Adrienne H.C1Kwiziq community member

Bonsoir Aurelia, Thank you very much for clarifying (and correcting) the spelling of the adverb tout in this quiz.  YOur help is very much appreciated.  With best regards, Adrienne.

Adrienne H. asked:

Spelling of the adverb tout/tout/toutes before an adjective in feminine form

In the "Le 14 juillet en famille - Tout" quiz linked to Laura's Newletter of 16Jul21, there is one answer I do not understand.  It is in the sentence "Avant de se mettre en route, on se réunit tous devant la maison pour que ma grand-mère, toute habillée de bleu" .  I wrote "tout habillée" but the correction is given as "toute habillée".  I think that in this sentence, tout/toute is an adverb complementing the adjective, habillée. Habillée is in the feminine form to agree with "Elle". I thought in this situation, the adverb, tout, changed to agree ONLY when the adjective was feminine AND began with a consonant or an aspirated h……. I believe habillée begins with a mute h.  I would be grateful if you can explain why it should be toute habillée in this case.  Thank you.  A.

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