Breakdown of Cet oiseau est nocturne, pourtant il chasse le matin.
être
to be
il
he
ce
this (before a noun)
le matin
the morning
Questions & Answers about Cet oiseau est nocturne, pourtant il chasse le matin.
Why use pourtant here instead of just mais?
Why is it cet oiseau instead of ce oiseau?
Oiseau is a masculine singular noun, so we would normally use the demonstrative adjective ce (this). However, because oiseau starts with a vowel sound, ce changes to cet to make it flow better when spoken.
The translation says 'in the morning', but the French just says le matin. Where is the 'in'?
French does not use a preposition to say 'in the morning', 'in the afternoon', or 'in the evening'. You simply use the definite article le directly with the time of day, like le matin or le soir. Using le here also implies a habit, meaning the bird routinely hunts in the mornings.
Why does the sentence use il to mean 'it' when talking about a bird?