Question 1

How would I apply this lesson's cleft sentence structure to emphasize that the swan makes its nest here?

Accepted Answer

You would say C'est ici que le cygne fait son nid (It is here that the swan makes its nest). Even though ici is an adverb of place rather than a prepositional phrase, it works exactly the same way with the C'est... que structure to add strong emphasis to the location.

Question 2

What if I want to emphasize that it is the swan making the nest, rather than the location?

Accepted Answer

You would change the structure to emphasize the subject: C'est le cygne qui fait son nid ici. Notice that you must use qui instead of que because le cygne is the grammatical subject performing the action.

Question 3

Is faire the only verb used for a bird making a nest?

Accepted Answer

You will also frequently see construire (to build) or bâtir (to build), as in le cygne construit son nid. However, faire son nid is a very common and natural collocation in French, much like "making a nest" in English.

Question 4

Since cygne ends in an 'e', is it a feminine noun?

Accepted Answer

No, cygne is masculine (le cygne, un cygne). If you are referring specifically to a female swan, you would typically use la femelle du cygne. As a pronunciation bonus, note that cygne sounds exactly the same as signe (sign).

Le cygne fait son nid ici.

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