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Ce livre parle de la mort.

Ce livre parle de la mort.
This book talks about death.
From Lesson 73:The passé composé with être·French

Questions & Answers about Ce livre parle de la mort.

Why do we use ce for "this" instead of cette or cet?
Because livre (book) is a masculine noun. You use cette for feminine nouns, and cet for masculine nouns that start with a vowel. Since livre is masculine and starts with a consonant, we use ce.
Does de mean "about" in this sentence?
Exactly! The verb parler (to talk/speak) uses the preposition de when discussing a topic. So, parler de is the standard French way to say "to talk about" something.
Why is it la mort? The English translation doesn't say "the death".
In French, abstract ideas and general concepts (like death, love, or time) always need a definite article (le, la, or les). Since mort is feminine, we must say la mort.
Would de change if the book was about a masculine concept?
Yes! Because mort is feminine, we keep de and la separate. But if the book was about a masculine concept like "time" (le temps), the de and le would combine into du. It would become: Ce livre parle du temps.

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