1.06: C'est vs il est...

In general, c’est or ce sont are followed by a noun

☞ C’est une voiture française. It’s a French car

☞ C’est un livre. It’s a book.

☞ C’est Julien. It’s Julien.

Il/Elle est or Ils/Elles sont are followed by an adjective

☞ Il est gentil. He is nice.

☞ Elle est adorable. She is adorable.

Note :

• The plural of c’est is ce sont these are.
• The plural of il/elle est is ils/elles sont they are.

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C’est is used:

– To identify or introduce a person or a thing.

☞ Qu’est-ce que c’est ? What is it?
☞ C’est un arbre exotique. It is an exotic tree (identifying something).

– To announce oneself (for example on the telephone).

☞ Allo, c’est Carole ! Hello, this is Carole!
☞ Est-ce que c’est Carole ? Is it Carole?

– To make a general statement.

☞ Les vacances, c’est bien ! Holidays, they’re great!
☞ Le travail, c’est difficile. Work, it’s difficult.

Note: If you have a possessive adjective such as mon, ma, mes, then you would always use c’est:

☞ C’est mon chien. It’s my dog; c’est ma voiture = it’s my car.

Il/elle est is used:

– To describe something or someone in particular.

☞ Carine ? Elle est grande, brune et intelligente. Carine? She is tall, brunette and intelligent.
☞ Il est sympathique, le professeur. He is nice, the teacher.

– When talking about someone’s profession, nationality, religion or family status. In this case, you don’t add an article (take out the un, une, des, le, la, les).

☞ Carla est informaticienne. Carla is a computer specialist.
☞ Elle est française. She is French.
☞ Elle est célibataire. She is single.

BUT you will add an article if you add a descriptive adjective, and in this case you will say:

☞ C’est une informaticienne intelligente. She is an intelligent computer specialist.

Note that we also use c’est for expressing the following:

☞ Oh, c’est bien ! Oh, that’s great!

Practice

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