In a previous log post, we saw that the c’est construction of the French verb être should be an important part of your strategy for developing speaking fluency in French. In this log post, I want to look at some of the more interesting things that can be done with this construction.

A reminder about the simple form of “c’est”

As a minimum you should already be using the short form c’est + adjective in your conversations. Little phrases like c’est vrai, c’est exact, c’est incroyable, c’est fou, c’est bien, etc. are easily mastered and will help keep the conversation fluent.

Here is something you could say after finishing a set of tasks:

Ça y est, c’est fait, c’est fini, on n’en parle plus.
That’s it, it’s done, it’s over, let’s not talk about it anymore.

I have blog posts on nearly every component of this phrase.

Take the French verb Être higher with “c’est + …”

Using c’est becomes really interesting when we make more complex sentences by putting phrases in front and / or after the c’est. The possibilities are truly endless.

First, here are some examples with things after c’est:

C’est tout pour aujourd’hui. “That’s all for today.”
C’en est assez, je n’en peux plus. “That’s enough of that; I can’t take it anymore.”
C’est ce que j’ai compris. “That’s what I understood.”
C’est très bon ce qu’on sert ici. “The food they serve here is great.”
Ce n’est pas la mer à boire. “It’s not a big deal”
C’est au tribunal de trancher. “It’s up to the court to decide”
Ç’a été un plaisir travailler avec vous. “It was a pleasure working with you.”
C’est pourquoi nous sommes venus vous voir. “This is why we have come to see you.”
C’est pour ça qu’ils ont fait toute cette histoire ? “Is this why they made such a fuss.”
Ce sont des choses qui, moi, me préoccupent beaucoup. “These are things that worry me a lot.”
Ce sont des amis de longue date. “They are old friends.”
C’étaient les informations nationales et internationales. “That was the national and international news.”
C’est à mi-chemin entre Paris et Bordeaux. “It’s midway between Paris and Bordeaux.”
C’est ainsi que se termine l’émission. “We’ve come to the end of the program.”
C’est grâce à vous qu’on a eu le prix. “It is thanks to you we won the prize.”
C’est moi qui me suis trompé. “I was the one who made the mistake.”
C’est elle qui a tout fait. “She is the one who did everything.”
C’est à moi de vous remercier. “I’m the one who should thank you.”

Here is a variation where we embed the c’est construction in a larger context:

Nous pensons que c’est une bonne idée. “We think it’s a good idea.”
Je ne crois pas que ce soit la chose à dire. “I don’t believe it’s the thing to say.”
Il me semble que ce n’est pas important. “It seems to me that it’s not important.”

Take the French verb Être even higher with …+c’est + …”

Now, in the following examples, we put a something with a noun or pronoun before and after c’est.

The ce in c’est refers explicitly to the noun or pronoun in front of it:

Ça, c’est une autre paire de manches. “Now, that’s another story.”
Vous avez raison. Le problème, c’est lui. “You are right. He is the problem.”
“Merci,” c’est un bien petit mot, mais c’est important. “‘Thanks’ is a small word but it is important”
La seule solution qu’on voit, c’est le logement social. “The only solution we see is social housing”
L’important, c’est de participer. “The important thing is to participate”
Le point de départ, c’est de fixer vos objectifs. “The first thing is to fix your goals”
Tous les couples rencontrent des problèmes, c’est normal. “All couple have their problems, it’s normal.”
Vous verrez, l’essayer, c’est l’adopter. “You will see that to try it is to adopt it!

Here is the chorus from the very famous song, Mon pays, by Gilles Vigneault, one of Quebec’s greatest poets:

Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l´hiver
Mon jardin ce n’est pas un jardin, c’est la plaine
Mon chemin ce n’est pas un chemin, c’est la neige
Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l´hiver

My country is not a country, it’s winter
My garden is not a garden, it’s the plains
My path is not a path, it’s snow
My country is not a country, it’s winter

A note on “c’est” and “ce sont”

You may have noticed that ce sont and c’étaient are often used as the plural forms of c’est and c’était. Be aware that some French grammarians argue that since the pronoun ce is a singular subject, the plural form of the verb is unnecessary and even wrong. In reality, both plural and singular forms are acceptable. So, you could quite correctly say:

C’est des choses qui, moi, me préoccupent beaucoup
C’est des amis de longue date.

Conclusion: pay attention to “c’est”

I want to stress again how important it is to observe and use the more complex form of the c’est construction of the French verb être. Many native English-speakers never use it because it is so foreign to them whereas French-speakers use it all the time.

One of the problems is that English-speakers tend to confuse the pronouns il, ce and ça because they all can mean “it.” I’ll look at this in a future post.

As always, I recommend imitating good examples from native speakers. All the real-life examples in this blog contain many examples of good usage. Try to only use constructions that you have seen or heard from trustworthy sources. If you are not sure about something, don’t use it or ask a native speaker to make sure.

Related Posts

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1. How to use French Idioms ‘Ça y est’ And ‘C’est parti’

2. How To Use The Awesome French Pronoun EN

3. French Conversation – How To Use The Awesome Pronoun ON

4. Spoken French – How To Pronounce “Plus”

Stanley Aléong is a polyglot, author, musician, language coach in French, English and Spanish, language workshop facilitator and organizer of French-English conversation meetups in Montreal, Canada. He likes to share his passion for languages and believes that anybody can learn to speak a foreign language well with the right methods and tools. He has also invented a cool visual learning tool called the Essential French Wall Chart Calendar. Reach him at info@langcal.com.