très élégant
The English phrase "very elegant" is translated into French as très élégant.
The phrase can describe both a person's appearance and the aesthetic quality of an object or a way of behaving.
Which one should you use?
While très élégant is the standard form, you can use extrêmement raffiné or extrêmement raffinée to emphasize refinement and elegance. For a more trendy way to convey the same idea, you might use incroyablement chic.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The informal forms vachement élégant and vachement élégante are mostly used in France.
How does it change in a sentence?
Use très élégante when describing a noun that is grammatically feminine, such as une robe (a dress). Use the masculine plural form très élégants when describing a group of masculine or mixed-gender nouns. Use the feminine plural form très élégantes when describing a group of exclusively feminine nouns.
Did you know?
- The informal term vachement used to intensify 'elegant' literally comes from the word for 'cow', vache.
- While you might use très élégant to describe an outfit, high-society French culture often defines elegance through 'discretion'. To be truly élégant is to avoid ostentation and show elegance through subtlety rather than expensive labels.
- Depending on the speaker's tone, calling someone très élégant can be a subtle, ironic way to describe them as 'stiff' or 'too formal'.
Examples in context
- Ce n'est pas très élégant.That's not very elegant.This sentence uses très élégant to express a negative assessment.Tatoeba #775718 by U2FS, translation #5139832 by CK
- Les robes de Manuela sont très élégantes.Manuela's dresses are very elegant.This sentence uses très élégantes to describe feminine plural dresses.Tatoeba #970629 by NomadSoul, translation #962251 by mayok
- J'ai été impressionné(e) par la robe qu'elle portait à la soirée, elle était vraiment très élégante.I was impressed by the dress she wore at the party, she looked really elegant.
- Ce jeune homme est incroyablement chic avec son costume sur mesure et sa cravate assortie.That young man looks incredibly chic with his tailored suit and matching tie.
- Ton nouveau manteau est très élégant.Your new coat is very elegant.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Léa are looking at a new hotel lobby.
- LucasLe salon de cet hôtel est très élégant.This hotel lobby is very elegant.
- LéaC'est vrai, j'aime beaucoup la décoration.It's true, I really like the decoration.
- LucasOn devrait y venir pour prendre un verre.We should come here for a drink.
- LéaJe suis d'accord, c'est une excellente idée.I agree, it's an excellent idea.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
