Learn French: C'est le champion qui mérite ce championnat et la compétition. - It is the champion who deserves this championship and the competition.

C'est le champion qui mérite ce championnat et la compétition.

It is the champion who deserves this championship and the competition.

Breakdown of C'est le champion qui mérite ce championnat et la compétition.

Questions & Answers about C'est le champion qui mérite ce championnat et la compétition.

Why do we use qui here instead of que for the emphasis?

In French cleft sentences, we use c'est ... qui when emphasizing the subject of the action. Here, le champion is the one doing the deserving, making it the subject of the verb mérite. If we were emphasizing the object of the sentence, we would use c'est ... que.

Why do we say ce championnat but then switch to la compétition?

Ce is a demonstrative adjective meaning 'this' or 'that', used here with the masculine singular noun championnat. The speaker is pointing out this specific championship. For compétition, they switched to the definite article la ('the'), treating the competition as a general concept. If they wanted to say 'this competition', they would have used the feminine demonstrative adjective, cette compétition.

Is the verb mérite used exactly like the English word 'merit'?

They are closely related, but mériter translates most naturally to 'to deserve'. In everyday French, it is the standard, very common verb to express that someone deserves a win, an award, or even a rest, whereas 'merit' in English can sometimes sound a bit formal.

The words champion, championnat, and compétition all look similar to English. Are they true cognates?