Question 1

Why do we use qu' here instead of qui?

Accepted Answer

We use que (which shortens to qu' before a vowel) because ce record is the object of the sentence. The subject doing the action is elle (she). If the word being emphasized was the one doing the action, we would use c'est ... qui.

Question 2

Could I just say Elle veut battre ce record without the C'est?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you absolutely can! Elle veut battre ce record simply means she wants to beat this record. By wrapping it in C'est ... que, you are adding emphasis to make it a cleft sentence: it is this record that she wants to beat, highlighting this specific one over any others.

Question 3

Is record used the exact same way in French as in English?

Accepted Answer

Not quite! While it is a loanword from English, in French un record specifically means a sporting or statistical highest achievement (the kind you beat or break). If you mean a vinyl musical record, you would use un disque, and a written record or file is un dossier.

Question 4

Why is the word ce used here instead of cet or cette?

Accepted Answer

The word record is a masculine singular noun that starts with a consonant, so it takes the standard masculine demonstrative adjective ce (meaning this or that). You only use cet for masculine words starting with a vowel or mute H, and cette is for feminine words.

C'est ce record qu'elle veut battre.

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