Question 1

Why do we use c'est affreux instead of il est affreux to say "it's awful"?

Accepted Answer

When describing a general situation, an idea, or an event (like being stuck in the rain), French uses c'est followed by a masculine singular adjective. You would only use il est affreux if "it" referred to a specific masculine noun mentioned earlier, like a monster (un monstre).

Question 2

Why is there an -s at the end of mouillés?

Accepted Answer

Here, the past participle mouillé (wet) acts as an adjective describing the subject nous (we). Because it follows the verb être (to be), it must agree in number with the plural subject, so we add an -s.

Question 3

Since we are studying reported speech, how would these verbs backshift if someone reported this situation in the past?

Accepted Answer

In past reported speech, present tense verbs shift to the imperfect tense (l'imparfait). The verbs sommes and est would become étaient and était (for example: Il a dit qu'ils étaient mouillés et que c'était affreux).

Question 4

If c'est always takes a masculine adjective, what is the feminine form of affreux for when I need to describe a feminine noun?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives ending in -eux change to -euse in the feminine. While you must use the masculine affreux after c'est, if you were describing a specific feminine noun like a dress, you would say une robe affreuse.

Maintenant, nous sommes mouillés et c'est affreux !

Breakdown of Maintenant, nous sommes mouillés et c'est affreux !

Questions & Answers about Maintenant, nous sommes mouillés et c'est affreux !

Learn Maintenant, nous sommes mouillés et c'est affreux and more in French