Breakdown of C'est un professeur.
Questions & Answers about C'est un professeur.
Why does this sentence use c'est instead of il est to mean "he is"?
In French, when you identify someone using an article (like un, une, le, or la) followed by a noun, you must use c'est. Because the sentence uses the noun phrase un professeur, we have to use c'est. Is there a way to say this using il est?
Yes! You can say Il est professeur. When you use il/elle est with a profession, the profession acts like an adjective describing the person. Because of this, you drop the article (un) completely. Does professeur only mean "professor" at a university?
No, un professeur is a general word for a teacher in middle school, high school, or university. It is often shortened to just un prof in everyday conversation. Should I pronounce the "t" at the end of c'est in this sentence?
Yes! Normally the "t" in c'est is silent. However, because the next word (un) starts with a vowel, you connect the two words. This is called a liaison, and it makes c'est un sound like "seh-tun". Learn C'est un professeur and more in French
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