Question 1

Why do we use ce qui here instead of ce que?

Accepted Answer

In the structure ce qui / ce que... c'est..., you use ce qui when it acts as the subject of the first verb, and ce que when it is the object. Here, ce qui is the subject of est vraiment hilarant (what is hilarious). If you were saying 'what I find hilarious', you would use ce que because 'I' is the subject (ce que je trouve hilarant).

Question 2

Could I just say 'Ce qui est vraiment hilarant est...' without the c' before est?

Accepted Answer

Technically yes, but it sounds very unnatural in everyday French. The emphasis structure Ce qui... c'est... is heavily used by French speakers to highlight a point. The c' acts as a bridge connecting the first idea to the answer, and it is almost always expected in spoken French.

Question 3

Why is it ce nouvel humoriste and not ce nouveau humoriste?

Accepted Answer

Humoriste is masculine singular, so you would normally expect nouveau. However, because humoriste starts with a mute H (which acts like a vowel sound here), French uses the special masculine form nouvel to make it flow better. You will see this with other adjectives too, like bel (instead of beau) or vieil (instead of vieux).

Question 4

Does humoriste mean 'humorist' or 'comedian'?

Accepted Answer

While it looks like the English word 'humorist', in modern French un humoriste (or une humoriste) is the standard word for a stand-up comedian or comic actor.

Ce qui est vraiment hilarant, c'est ce nouvel humoriste.

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