Word
Le béton, c'est rugueux et dur.
Meaning
Concrete is rough and hard.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Le béton, c'est rugueux et dur.
et
and
c'est
it is, that is
dur
hard, tough
le béton
the concrete
Questions & Answers about Le béton, c'est rugueux et dur.
Why do we use c'est here instead of simply saying Le béton est rugueux et dur?
Both are grammatically correct, but they have a subtle difference in meaning. Using c'est after the noun highlights that you are making a broad generalization about the material as a whole. Le béton est rugueux could sound like you are describing a specific piece or batch of concrete in front of you, whereas Le béton, c'est rugueux expresses a universal fact: Concrete, in general, is rough.
If we changed the subject to a feminine plural noun like Les briques (bricks), would the adjectives become rugueuses and dures?
Why do we need Le before béton? In English, we just say Concrete without an article.
In French, you must use the definite article (le, la, l', les) when talking about a noun in a general sense. This includes concepts, categories, and materials. English drops the article for generalities, but French requires it to show you mean all concrete everywhere.
Why is there a comma separating Le béton from the rest of the sentence?