| IL EST | C'EST | |
| Adjective describing a person Il est fort, cet homme. (That man is strong.) Elle est intelligente. (She is smart.) | vs | Adjective describing a situation J'entends sa voix, c'est bizarre. (I hear his voice, it's weird.) C'est normal ! (That's normal!) |
| Unmodified adverb Il est tard. (It's late.) Elles sont ici. (They are here) | vs | Modified adverb C'est trop tard. (It's too late.) C'est très loin d'ici. (It's very far from here.) |
| Unmodified noun Il est avocat. (He's a lawyer.) Elle est actrice. (She's an actress.) | vs | Modified noun C'est un avocat. (He's a lawyer.) C'est une bonne actrice. (She's a good actress.) |
| Prepositional phrase (people) Il est à la banque. (He's at the bank.) Elle est en France. (She's in France.) | Proper name C'est Luc. (That's Luc.) | |
| Stressed pronoun C'est moi. (That's me.) |
http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa032500.htm
Sitesurf
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"c'est dans la poche !" = it's in the bag! This idiomatic and colloquial expression is used to mean that whatever was at stake (negotiation, permission asked...), the outcome is positive. "c' " as well as "it" refer to a situation.
"il/elle est dans ma poche/le fond de mon sac" = it is in the bottom of my bag. The personal pronoun "il" ou "elle" replaces a noun, masculine or feminine, mentioned before.
pistachio8 - 23
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Thank you! so it's just a matter of whether the subject is something concrete or not in this case? And it's not about prepositions? I must have misread something and thought "c'est + prepositions" was prohibited.so you can still say "c'est à la banque" if it's just "this/that," non?Just when I think I have sorted the matter of "il est vs. c'est," a sentence or two like this creeps in and gets me confused back again. It's always like this. xD
Sitesurf - 25
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- Question: "où est-ce que je peux changer des dollars ; à la banque ou à l'hôtel ?"
- Answer: "c'est à la banque (que tu peux changer des dollars)".
c' represents "changer des dollars", not a concrete object.- Question: "où est l'argent que tu as gagné hier ?"
- Answer: "il est à la banque."
"il" represents "l'argent", a concrete object.
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This is another rule, where "il est" or "elle est", followed by a modified noun (noun preceded by a determiner) has to change to "c'est" - for both genders.
- he is a soldier = c'est un soldat
- she is my sister = c'est ma soeur
And this also applies in plural with "ce sont":
- they are my parents = ce sont mes parents
- they are lovely girls = ce sont de jolies filles.
In both cases, "c' " or "ce" are still this demonstrative pronoun that is genderless and numberless.
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/463822$comment_id=8860438
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