Question 1

Why is la clientèle singular here if it refers to many customers?

Accepted Answer

La clientèle is a collective noun meaning "the clientele" or "the customer base." Unlike phrases from this lesson such as la plupart de (most of) which take a plural verb when followed by a plural noun, collective nouns like la clientèle, le public, or la famille are grammatically singular in French and always take singular verbs and adjectives.

Question 2

Could we say Il est le serveur aimable instead of C'est?

Accepted Answer

No, you must use C'est. In French, when you identify someone using an article (like le) and a noun (like serveur), you always use C'est. You only use Il est when stating a profession with no article, such as Il est serveur (He is a waiter).

Question 3

Why do we use qui instead of que after serveur?

Accepted Answer

We use qui because the relative pronoun acts as the subject of the following verb (remercie). The waiter is the one doing the thanking! If the waiter were the object of the action, you would use que, for example: C'est le serveur que la clientèle remercie (It is the waiter whom the clientele thanks).

Question 4

Why does aimable come after serveur?

Accepted Answer

Most descriptive adjectives in French, including those describing personality or behavior like aimable (friendly), are placed directly after the noun. Only a few specific categories of common short adjectives (often remembered by the acronym BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size) go before the noun.

C'est le serveur aimable qui remercie la clientèle.

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