Question 1

How would I use this sentence to practice the current lesson on exclamations with 'comme' or 'ce que'?

Accepted Answer

You can place comme or ce que at the very beginning of the clause to express strong emotion about the statement: Comme c'était un horrible accident ! or Ce que c'était un horrible accident ! (What a horrible accident it was!).

Question 2

Why does the adjective 'horrible' come before the noun here?

Accepted Answer

Most French adjectives come after the noun, and un accident horrible is perfectly correct for stating a factual description. However, moving a descriptive adjective before the noun adds emotional emphasis and subjectivity. At a B2 level, you will see this often when a speaker wants to highlight their personal reaction rather than just state an objective fact.

Question 3

Since 'accident' is a masculine noun, why don't we use 'Il était' instead of 'C'était'?

Accepted Answer

This is a helpful refresher on a classic rule: you must use c'est (and its past tense c'était) whenever it is followed by a modified noun (a noun introduced by an article like un, le, or mon). Since we have the noun phrase un horrible accident, we have to use c'était. If you were referring back to the accident using only the adjective, you would use il: Il était horrible.

Question 4

Are there any liaisons to watch out for when saying this sentence out loud?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is highly recommended to make a liaison between C'était and un. You pronounce the normally silent 't' at the end of C'était to connect the words, making the beginning of the sentence sound like 'C'étai-tun'.

C'était un horrible accident.

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