Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

Yes! They mean 'champion', 'championship', and 'competition'. Words ending in -nat often refer to a status or a tournament related to the root word. Words ending in -tion are very frequently identical in both languages, and nearly all of them are feminine, which helps you remember to use la for compétition.

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

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