A2 · The finishing touches
c'est and il est
English needs an article with a job; French drops it, and that decides everything.
c'est stands in front of a noun with an article, in front of a name, and in front of a stressed pronoun: c'est un médecin, c'est Marie, c'est moi.
il est stands in front of an adjective describing a particular person, and in front of a profession with no article: il est médecin, elle est fatiguée.
The article is where English goes wrong, because English cannot leave it out: he is a doctor, she is an architect. French says il est médecin, with nothing. And the moment an article does belong there — because an adjective has arrived, or because you are pointing somebody out — the whole sentence flips to c'est: c'est un bon médecin.
For a general remark, c'est: c'est difficile. Where the adjective describes one particular thing, il est: ce livre, il est difficile.
In the plural it is ce sont: ce sont mes parents.
Die Form
| that is a doctor | c’est un médecin |
| he is a doctor | il est médecin |
| that is Marie | c’est Marie |
| she is tired | elle est fatiguée |
| that is difficult | c’est difficile |
| those are my parents | ce sont mes parents |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
In front of an article, c'est.
C’est une bonne idée.That is a good idea.
In front of a profession with no article, il est.
Elle est architecte à Lyon.She is an architect in Lyon.
A general remark takes c'est.
C’est intéressant, ce que tu dis.What you are saying is interesting.
In the plural it is ce sont.
Ce sont des amis de longue date.Those are old friends.
Woran man es erkennt
- c’est
- ce sont
- il est
- elle est
Beispielsätze
C’est un très bon restaurant.That is a very good restaurant.
Mon frère ? Il est ingénieur.My brother? He is an engineer.
C’est difficile à expliquer.That is hard to explain.
Ce sont les clés de la maison.Those are the house keys.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
A profession after être takes no article: il est médecin. As soon as an article does belong in front of it, the whole sentence has to be rebuilt with c'est. Il est un médecin is the sentence that identifies an English speaker faster than any accent, because English has no way of saying he is doctor.
An article arrives, c'est arrives with it.
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