C'est la victoire que nous voulons.

Questions & Answers about C'est la victoire que nous voulons.

Why is it que here instead of qui?
In this emphasizing structure, you use que when the word you are highlighting is the object of the verb, and qui when it is the subject. Here, nous is the subject doing the wanting. Since la victoire is the object being wanted, we use que.
Why not just say Nous voulons la victoire?
You certainly can, but framing it with C'est... que... adds strong emphasis. It changes a neutral "We want victory" into "It is the victory that we want," making it clear that victory, rather than something else, is the specific goal.
Since la victoire is feminine, does C'est ever change to match it?
No, c'est is a fixed expression here. When used to emphasize a noun or pronoun, the sentence always starts with c'est (or sometimes ce sont for plurals), regardless of whether the emphasized word is masculine or feminine.
Does que ever drop its e in this type of sentence?
Yes! If the word immediately following que started with a vowel sound (for example, if the sentence was C'est la victoire qu'il veut), it would shorten to qu'. Remember that que can drop its vowel like this before another vowel, but qui never drops its i.

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