Breakdown of Ça, c'est un légume frais.
Questions & Answers about Ça, c'est un légume frais.
Where is the demonstrative adjective like ce or cette in this sentence?
It is hiding in c'est! The word ce is a demonstrative that means 'this' or 'that'. When placed before a vowel like the e in est (is), the e on ce is dropped to become c'est (it is or that is). Unlike ce, the word ça is a pronoun that can stand alone to mean 'that'. Why do we say Ça, c'est instead of just C'est?
Using Ça at the beginning adds emphasis, like pointing at something and saying 'That right there, it is...'. While C'est un légume frais is a perfectly good sentence, adding Ça makes it stronger and is very common in spoken French. Because légume ends in an -e, shouldn't it be feminine?
You might expect it to be, but légume is masculine. That is why we use un instead of une. While an ending -e is often a clue that a word is feminine, there are plenty of exceptions like this one. It is always safest to memorize the gender along with the noun! Why does frais have an -s at the end if there is only one vegetable?
Some French adjectives naturally end in -s, even in their singular form. Frais is the masculine singular spelling for 'fresh'. Since it already ends in an -s, it does not change spelling if it describes a plural masculine noun. Learn Ça, c'est un légume frais and more in French
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