One of the questions was to write in what would go before "chaud" in order to create the sentence, "It is hot." I wrote "Il est" because I'd learned in Rosetta Stone that with a simple adjective, you should use "Il est" and not "C''est". They used the example of "Il est dangereux de toucher un serpent." Is there something different in this sentence that makes the use of "Il est" more appropriate? Would love to get an answer.
Look at these examples:
Note that to describe things in general in French, you can use :
c'est (it is/this is/that is) + a simple adjective (describing word)
See also Standalone adjectives after c'est are always masculine
and more advanced C'est vs il/elle est: Saying it is
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A Forum 12 questions, 29 answers
Hi Joanne,
This topic causes so many problems for learners. I struggled with it for ever but now think I have a handle on it.
In your case it's a case of the general vs the particular (I'm supposing you're talking about the weather/climate), thus:. "C'est chaud" since you're talking about a generality
If you're talking about some thing specific (especially something previously mentioned (say la soupe)) then it would be "Elle est chaude".
Hope this helps,
Tom
Joanne asked:View original
Il est vs. C;est
One of the questions was to write in what would go before "chaud" in order to create the sentence, "It is hot." I wrote "Il est" because I'd learned in Rosetta Stone that with a simple adjective, you should use "Il est" and not "C''est". They used the example of "Il est dangereux de toucher un serpent." Is there something different in this sentence that makes the use of "Il est" more appropriate? Would love to get an answer.
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ClaudiaKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Amoooouuuuur in the audio sounds really aweful
Asked 11 months ago
Bonjour Claudia !
Oh là là ! Quelle catastrophe ! :)
Thanks to you, I've now fixed the audio file!
Merci et bonne journée !
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Hi Sasha,
You cannot say -
'Il est mon cousin' but
C'est mon cousin, il est très gentil ....
SashaKwiziq community member
Pourquoi? Aren't you describing a particular boy (il est) as being my cousin?
ClaudiaKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Salut a tous
If I were to say She is my cousin, would it still be C'est mon cousin?
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RodneyKwiziq community member
Bonsoir! Why is c'est amusant this is funny and not it is funny? Merci por la lecon. Rod
Asked 1 year ago
MichelleKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
C'est can be translated as either this is or it is. My guess is that it's context dependent.
Rodney asked:View original
Bonsoir! Why is c'est amusant this is funny and not it is funny? Merci por la lecon. Rod
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Claudia Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Salut a tous
In the video:" Les fleurs, c'est beau." C'est is singular, beau singular, fleurs plural. Why c'est and not Ce sont?
Merci
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Claudia,
It is because of 'c'est' which is followed by a masculine adjective and makes it a general statement:
Le violet, c'est beau.
La musique classique, c'est beau.
Les bonbons, c'est bon ....
Hope this helps!
Claudia asked:View original
Salut a tous
In the video:" Les fleurs, c'est beau." C'est is singular, beau singular, fleurs plural. Why c'est and not Ce sont?
Merci
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Hi Jeremiah,
If you look at the following lesson -
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/when-to-use-cest-or-il-est-elle-est-to-say-it-is
and in particular the Q&A section at the bottom of it, you will see that this has been a hot topic...
Take particular heed of the answers from our team marked correct as it is a tricky subject.
Hope this helps
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DavidKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
C'est nul vs Il est nul
The quiz asked "It's lame", "_____ nul".
The answer that it wants is "C'est nul".
Why can't it be "Il est nul"?
Suppose the sentence was a response to the question "What do you think of that film?"
The answer is providing an opinion with an adjective which it is applying to a specific thing - "that film".
That sounds a lot like case 2b in the lesson:
"2. Cases expressing opinions or simple statements (adjectives) about prementioned things"
"b. il est/elle est for statements and opinions related to specific things"
Asked 1 year ago
David asked:View original
C'est nul vs Il est nul
The quiz asked "It's lame", "_____ nul".
The answer that it wants is "C'est nul".
Why can't it be "Il est nul"?
Suppose the sentence was a response to the question "What do you think of that film?"
The answer is providing an opinion with an adjective which it is applying to a specific thing - "that film".
That sounds a lot like case 2b in the lesson:
"2. Cases expressing opinions or simple statements (adjectives) about prementioned things"
"b. il est/elle est for statements and opinions related to specific things"
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AshleyKwiziq community member
On the quiz it said that "c'est amusant " could mean it is funny or this is funny
I did not see in the lesson or video where c'est could mean "this is". That sounds specific to me. What do you think?
Asked 2 years ago
GruffKwiziq team member
Hi Ashley - remember that 'ce' usually translates to 'this' or 'that' (and "c'est" is ce + est) but it's not usually very helpful to think about what individual words translate to in English. Expressions like "C'est amusement" can loosely be translated as "It's funny" or "That's funny". The actual sense will depend on the context.
AnnKwiziq community member
I appreciate it can mean both but it then seems wrong to mark an answer as incorrect because one only puts "its is amusing" which is the only answer it gives in the lesson to explain this
Ashley asked:View original
On the quiz it said that "c'est amusant " could mean it is funny or this is funny
I did not see in the lesson or video where c'est could mean "this is". That sounds specific to me. What do you think?
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MelissaKwiziq community member
Inserting a seemingly unneccessary definite article
In a similar vein to my question below ( I don't know where to find the relevant grammar topic ), there are many places in french where it seems one must insert a definite article where it would be omitted in English-- here are a couple of examples:
"Il y a même des alcools spéciaux en France qui sont synonymes de l'apéritif comme le Pineau, le Muscadet que l’on sert
avec une liqueur de fruit. "
"Vous serrez la main que
l'on vous tend."
Why can't you say "qu'on sert"," qu'on vous tend" ?
Asked 2 years ago
LauraKwiziq team member
Bonjour Melissa,
You can say on or l'on in these cases; l'on is a euphonic technique:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/on-vs-lon/
You can say on or l'on in these cases; l'on is a euphonic technique:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/on-vs-lon/
Melissa asked:View original
Inserting a seemingly unneccessary definite article
In a similar vein to my question below ( I don't know where to find the relevant grammar topic ), there are many places in french where it seems one must insert a definite article where it would be omitted in English-- here are a couple of examples:
"Il y a même des alcools spéciaux en France qui sont synonymes de l'apéritif comme le Pineau, le Muscadet que l’on sert
avec une liqueur de fruit. "
"Vous serrez la main que
l'on vous tend."
Why can't you say "qu'on sert"," qu'on vous tend" ?
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MelissaKwiziq community member
"Le nombre ( de bises) le plus répandu, c'est 2.
Why do you need the c' here. Why not just "le nombre est 2?"
Asked 2 years ago
Bonjour Mélissa !
This is a colloquial difference of expression between French and English :)
Indeed in such cases where the subject of a sentence with "être" is quite long, we tend to add a coma + "c'est" in French, which is a (slightly redundant I agree) way to take a breath and not get lost in the sentence I guess, as such:
Ce que j'aime le plus, c'est son sourire.
What I like the most is his smile.
Le jour que je préfère est le samedi.
Le jour que je préfère, c'est le samedi.
The day I prefer is Saturday.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
This is a colloquial difference of expression between French and English :)
Indeed in such cases where the subject of a sentence with "être" is quite long, we tend to add a coma + "c'est" in French, which is a (slightly redundant I agree) way to take a breath and not get lost in the sentence I guess, as such:
Ce que j'aime le plus, c'est son sourire.
What I like the most is his smile.
Le jour que je préfère est le samedi.
Le jour que je préfère, c'est le samedi.
The day I prefer is Saturday.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
StewartKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Hi Aurélie
Do I understand your answer to mean that both of the following sentences are correct?
Le jour que je préfère est le samedi.
Le jour que je préfère, c'est le samedi.
Thank you
Stewart
Melissa asked:View original
"Le nombre ( de bises) le plus répandu, c'est 2.
Why do you need the c' here. Why not just "le nombre est 2?"
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AnishKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Why is it not "Regarde ce dessin, il est superbe"
As per the Video "il/s or elle/s" is the correct pronoun to be used when talking about specific thing/s
Asked 2 years ago
Bonjour Anish and Ron!
Actually here I agree with Anish : "il est superbe" would indeed be better here, as this is a specific drawing you have already mentioned.
I've now changed this example to better fit this lesson :)
Merci beaucoup et à bientôt !
Ron Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour Anish,
Je pense que cela au-dessous expliquera votre question.
Regarde ce dessin, c'est superbe!
Look at this drawing, it's superb!
C'est bleu.
It's blue.
Note that to describe things in general in French, you can use the simple expression c'est ('it is/this is'), followed by an adjective (describing word).
Peut-être l'adjectif qui suit serait la raison. «ce dessin» est une chose en général au contraire d'«un dessin de Monet» ce qui serait plus exact.
J'espère que ma réponse vous aidera.
bonne journée,
Ron
Anish asked:View original
Why is it not "Regarde ce dessin, il est superbe"
As per the Video "il/s or elle/s" is the correct pronoun to be used when talking about specific thing/s
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AdamKwiziq community member
C'est moi qui paye
Why can't you just say Je paye? Or someone corrected me after I said that my small daughter is ill (La petite est malade <- wrong, C'est la petite qui est malade <- why?)
Asked 4 years ago
LauraKwiziq team member
Bonjour Adam,
Je paye isn't wrong, it's just that "C'est moi qui paye" is more emphatic. For example, John says, "Je paye" but Bill insists that he's going to pay, so he says "C'est moi qui paye," which is equivalent to "No, *I'm* paying."
It's the same thing with "C'est la petite qui est malade" - there must be some context in which someone said something like "La grande est malade" and someone else is contradicting: "Non, c'est la petite qui est malade."
Without that sort of contradiction/emphasis, Je paye and La petite est malade are perfectly fine.
AdamKwiziq community member
There was no contradiction, just me saying that my little daughter is ill. He told me: "Ca ne sonne pas français" and corrected the sentense. Might this be related to his location? (Angers)
LauraKwiziq team member
Maybe - I'm not familiar with any particuliarities about the French in that region of France. I don't see anything at all wrong with La petite est malade.
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Adam,
I'm French, and from what you explained, "la petite est malade" is perfectly acceptable, and sounds very French to me :) However, "Ça ne sonne pas français" is a very clumsy translation from English ;)
Adam asked:View original
C'est moi qui paye
Why can't you just say Je paye? Or someone corrected me after I said that my small daughter is ill (La petite est malade <- wrong, C'est la petite qui est malade <- why?)
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