Breakdown of C'est une nouvelle étonnante !
une
a / an (feminine)
la nouvelle
the piece of news
c'est
it is, that is
étonnant
astonishing
Questions & Answers about C'est une nouvelle étonnante !
Why does the present participle étonnante have an -e at the end?
Because it is being used here as a verbal adjective. When a present participle (a verb form normally ending in -ant) acts as an adjective to describe a noun, it must agree in gender and number with that noun. Since une nouvelle is feminine singular, étonnant adds an -e to become étonnante.
How is the base word étonnant formed?
It is formed from the verb étonner (to astonish or to surprise). To create a present participle, you take the nous form of the present tense (étonnons), drop the -ons, and add -ant. This gives you étonnant (astonishing).
Why does the French use une before nouvelle when "news" is uncountable in English?
Why do we use C'est here instead of Elle est, since une nouvelle is feminine?
This is a classic rule to remember: you must use c'est when introducing a modified noun (a noun preceded by an article like un, une, or la). Because we are introducing the full noun phrase une nouvelle étonnante, we use c'est. You would only use Elle est if you dropped the noun entirely and just said Elle est étonnante (It is astonishing).
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