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Learn Hardcore French: La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ? - The rope is ready, isn’t it?

Hardcore French
/Trying indoor climbing with friends
/La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ?

La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ?

Word

La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ?

Meaning

The rope is ready, isn’t it?

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore French

Lesson

Trying indoor climbing with friends

Breakdown of La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ?

the climbing rope

Questions & Answers about La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ?

Why is it la corde and not le corde?

Because corde is a feminine noun in French. French nouns have grammatical gender, so corde takes the feminine singular article la.

la corde = the rope
le is only used with masculine singular nouns

This is something you usually have to learn along with the noun.

Why is prête spelled with an extra -e?

The extra -e shows feminine agreement.

In La corde est prête, the adjective prêt / prête must agree with the noun it describes. Since corde is feminine singular, the adjective becomes prête.

Compare:

Le sac est prêt. = The bag is ready.
La corde est prête. = The rope is ready.

So the final -e is there because corde is feminine.

Why do we use est here?

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Est is the third-person singular form of the verb être (to be).

The subject is La corde (the rope), which is singular, so French uses est:

je suis = I am
tu es = you are
il/elle/on est = he/she/it is

So:

La corde est prête = The rope is ready

What does n’est-ce pas ? mean exactly?

N’est-ce pas ? is a very common French tag question. It is often equivalent to English endings like:

isn’t it?
right?
is that correct?

So La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ? means something like:

The rope is ready, isn’t it?

It asks for confirmation from the listener.

Why is there an apostrophe in n’est-ce pas?

The apostrophe appears because ne becomes n’ before a vowel sound.

Since est begins with e-, French contracts:

ne est → n’est

This kind of contraction is very common in French:

je aime → j’aime
ne a → n’a
ne est → n’est

Is n’est-ce pas ? a negative sentence?

Not really in the usual sense. Even though it contains ne and pas, here it functions as a fixed expression used to ask for confirmation.

So in this sentence, n’est-ce pas ? does not make the whole statement negative. The main idea is still:

La corde est prête = The rope is ready

Then n’est-ce pas ? adds:

...isn’t it?

So it works more like a conversational tag than a true negative statement.

Could I say La corde est prête ? without n’est-ce pas?

Yes. La corde est prête ? is also correct, especially in speech.

The difference is in tone:

La corde est prête ? = Is the rope ready?
La corde est prête, n’est-ce pas ? = The rope is ready, isn’t it?

The second one suggests the speaker already expects the answer to be yes and is just checking.

How is n’est-ce pas pronounced?

It is usually pronounced approximately like:

nayss-pah

A more detailed breakdown:

n’est sounds roughly like nay
ce sounds like suh
pas sounds like pah

In natural speech, it often flows together smoothly:

n’est-ce pas → nay-suh-pah or even more compressed depending on the speaker

The final s in pas is normally silent.

Do I pronounce the t in est?

Usually, no. In est, the final -t is normally silent.

So:

est sounds roughly like eh in isolation

But in n’est-ce pas, the pronunciation is shaped by the whole expression, and learners often hear it as part of n’est rather than as a separately pronounced t.

So for practical purposes:

La corde est prête → the t in est is silent
n’est-ce pas → learn it as one expression

Can n’est-ce pas ? be used with many different sentences?

Yes. It is very versatile and can be added to many statements when you want confirmation.

Examples:

Il est ici, n’est-ce pas ? = He is here, isn’t he?
Tu comprends, n’est-ce pas ? = You understand, right?
C’est une bonne idée, n’est-ce pas ? = It’s a good idea, isn’t it?

It is a useful all-purpose tag question, though in everyday casual speech French speakers may also use other expressions depending on context and tone.

Why doesn’t French change the tag question the way English does?

English changes its tag question depending on the verb and subject:

It’s ready, isn’t it?
You know, don’t you?
He came, didn’t he?

French often avoids that kind of change by using the fixed expression n’est-ce pas ?, which works in many situations.

That makes it easier in one way: you do not have to build a different tag each time. You can often just add n’est-ce pas ? to ask for confirmation.

Is prête pronounced differently from prêt?

Usually, no. In most standard pronunciation, prêt and prête are pronounced the same way.

So:

prêt
prête

Both sound roughly like preh

The difference is mainly in spelling, which shows grammatical agreement.

Could corde mean something other than rope?

Yes, depending on context. Corde can mean rope, string, or cord in different situations.

For example:

a thick rope
a cord
a string on an object or instrument, depending on context

So even though the basic meaning is clear, the exact English translation can vary with the situation.

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