Breakdown of Le son de cette voyelle est très fluide, n'est-ce pas ?
être
to be
très
very
ce
this (before a noun)
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
n'est-ce pas
isn't it? right?
fluide
smooth
le son
the sound
la voyelle
the vowel
Questions & Answers about Le son de cette voyelle est très fluide, n'est-ce pas ?
Why do we use n'est-ce pas here instead of translating "isn't it" as n'est-il pas to match le son?
In French, n'est-ce pas is a fixed, universal tag question. Unlike English, where the tag changes to match the subject and verb (e.g., "isn't it", "don't they", "hasn't she"), French uses n'est-ce pas at the end of almost any statement to ask for confirmation.
In this sentence, does fluide describe le son (masculine) or cette voyelle (feminine)?
How can I tell that son means "sound" here, rather than the possessive adjective "his/her/its"?
The definite article le gives it away. Possessive adjectives like son, sa, and ses replace the article, so you will never see le son to mean "the his" or "the its". Because the article is present, son must be the noun meaning "sound".
Why is it cette voyelle and not ce voyelle?
Voyelle (vowel) is a feminine noun, so it requires the feminine demonstrative adjective cette (this/that). The masculine equivalent is ce, or cet if the masculine noun starts with a vowel sound (like cet homme).
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