Look at these examples:
Note that to describe things in general in French, you can use :
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
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
19/07/17
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
7/07/17
You can say on or l'on in these cases; l'on is a euphonic technique:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/on-vs-lon/
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7/07/17
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 !
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
10/06/18
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
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
13/06/18
Bonjour Stewart !
Oui, c'est tout à fait ça :)
À bientôt !
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
13/06/18
Je vous remercie.
C'est brilliant.
Ron
Kwiziq community member
3/06/17
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
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
3/06/17
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 !
Adam
Kwiziq community member
7 January 2016
4 replies
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?)Laura
Kwiziq language super star
7/01/16
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.
Adam
Kwiziq community member
8/01/16
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
8/01/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
11/01/16
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 ;)
David
Kwiziq community member
5 August 2018
0 replies
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"