châteaux de sable
The English phrase sand castles is translated into French as châteaux de sable.
This phrase refers to model buildings made from wet sand, which are typically built by children on a beach. When you want to express the action of making one, you use the verb construire (to build), as in construire un château de sable.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of châteaux (castles) and de sable (of sand).
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form is château de sable, whereas the plural is châteaux de sable. In the plural form châteaux de sable, only the word château takes a plural marker. The word sable remains singular because it acts as a material descriptor.
Did you know?
- While sable is used for sand, French uses the word sablé to describe a type of crumbly shortbread cookie that mimics the texture of sand.
- In French, the phrase châteaux de sable is often used metaphorically to describe projects or hopes that are fragile and destined to collapse.
- In French, the word sable for 'sand' comes from the Latin 'sablum', while the word for the marten 'sable' has roots in Middle Low German.
Examples in context
- Les enfants construisent des châteaux de sable à la plage.The children are building sand castles on the beach.This sentence shows the use of châteaux de sable in the context of children building them at the beach.Tatoeba #844085 by sacredceltic, translation #245779 by CM
- Les enfants construisent des châteaux de sable sur la plage.Kids are building sand castles on the beach.This sentence demonstrates how to use châteaux de sable when kids are building them on the beach.Tatoeba #11267636 by lbdx, translation #7999770 by ciwlx
- Regarde ces magnifiques châteaux de sable !Look at these magnificent sand castles!
Example conversation
Gabriel and Chloé are walking along the shore after a sunny day.
- GabrielChloé, regarde les châteaux de sable que les enfants ont faits.Chloé, look at the sand castles the children made.
- ChloéIls sont vraiment impressionnants.They are truly impressive.
- GabrielJe veux construire des châteaux de sable moi aussi.I want to build sand castles too.
- ChloéOn peut chercher des seaux dans la voiture.We can look for buckets in the car.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, sable, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
