château de glace
The English phrase 'ice castle' is translated into French as château de glace.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of château (castle), de (of) and glace (ice).
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the phrase plural, use châteaux de glace. Only the noun château changes to châteaux. The prepositional phrase de glace remains singular because the castles are made of the substance 'ice'.
Did you know?
- The word glace can mean 'ice' or 'mirror'. Because of this, a château de glace could be interpreted as a castle made of ice or a castle of mirrors.
- The word château comes from the Latin castellum, which was a diminutive of castrum. This means the word for 'castle' literally started as a word for a 'small fort'.
Examples in context
- J'ai visité un magnifique château de glace lors de mon voyage au Québec.I visited a magnificent ice castle during my trip to Quebec.
- Le carnaval de Québec dispose d'un splendide palais de glace chaque année.The Quebec Winter Carnival features a splendid ice palace every year.
- Le festival d'hiver comprend un petit château de glace, c'est vraiment cool !The winter festival includes a small ice castle, it's really cool!
- La reine est enfermée dans son château de glace.The queen is locked in her ice castle.
- Il a construit un château de glace.He built an ice castle.
- Le château de glace est magnifique.The ice castle is magnificent.
- Nous avons visité un château de glace.We visited an ice castle.
Example conversation
Manon and Nathan are looking at photos from a winter festival.
- ManonRegarde ce beau château de glace !Look at this beautiful ice castle!
- NathanC'est incroyable, Manon.It is incredible, Manon.
- ManonVeux-tu y aller avec moi ?Do you want to go there with me?
- NathanOui, j'aimerais beaucoup.Yes, I would love to.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries château, de, glace, CC BY-SA 4.0.
