Questions & Answers about Cet élève est japonais.
Why do we use cet instead of ce for "this"?
Both mean "this" for masculine words, but ce changes to cet when the next word starts with a vowel or a silent 'h'. Since élève starts with a vowel, we use cet to make it flow smoothly when speaking. How do we know if this student is a boy or a girl?
The word élève is used for both! However, we know this specific student is male because of the words around it. If it were a girl, the sentence would use the feminine forms: Cette élève est japonaise. Why isn't japonais capitalized like "Japanese" is in English?
In English, we always capitalize nationalities. In French, you only capitalize a nationality when it is used as a noun to refer to a person (like un Japonais, meaning "a Japanese man"). When it is an adjective describing someone, as it is in this sentence, it stays lowercase. Since we are learning about countries, how would I say "This pupil is in Japan"?
You would say Cet élève est au Japon. Because Japan is a masculine country (le Japon), you use the preposition au to mean "in". If it were a feminine country like France, you would use en (en France). Learn Cet élève est japonais and more in French
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