Toutes, tout and the mute 'h'

Question

In the lesson you give these examples:Mes filles sont toutes honteuses de leur comportement.Lucie et Juliette sont tout heureuses de se retrouver.Do both the words honteuses and heureuses  not have a mute 'h' and therefore, why is it 'toutes' in one example and 'tout'in the other?Thanks in advancePam

Céline Pickard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Pamela,
This is a very interesting question!
The French feminine adjective "honteuse" does have an aspirated "h", meaning it acts as a consonnant (which means there can't be any elisions or liaisons -> "tout"):

Mes filles sont toutes honteuses de leur comportement.

while the French feminine adjective "heureuse" starts with a mute "h", acting as a vowel, which there will be elisions or liaisons -> "toute/es") :
Lucie et Juliette sont tout heureuses de se retrouver.
 
Take a look at one of our partners' site:
h muet
h aspiré 
 
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !