Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

This conversation is funny, but the subject is important.

Breakdown of Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

• être: to be
• important: important
• mais: but
• cette: this
• la conversation: the conversation
• drôle: funny
• le sujet: the subject

Questions & Answers about Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

Why is it cette conversation and not ce conversation or cet conversation?

In French, demonstrative adjectives (this/that) agree with the gender and number of the noun.

• ce – masculine singular (before a consonant): ce livre (this book)
• cet – masculine singular (before a vowel or silent h): cet homme, cet arbre
• cette – feminine singular: cette voiture, cette discussion, cette conversation
• ces – plural for both genders: ces livres, ces voitures

The noun conversation is feminine in French, so you must use cette:

• cette conversation = this conversation

You can’t say ce conversation or cet conversation, because those are masculine forms and don’t agree with the feminine noun conversation.

How do I know that conversation is feminine? It looks the same as in English.

Unfortunately, in French there’s no reliable visual rule from English to know a noun’s gender; you simply have to learn it with the noun.

So you should memorize:

• une conversation (a conversation)
• la conversation (the conversation)
• cette conversation (this conversation)

A good habit is always to learn new nouns with an article:

• une table, un problème, une conversation, un sujet, etc.

Over time you’ll start to develop a feel for common endings (for example, many nouns ending in -tion are feminine: la conversation, la nation, la situation), but you should still treat the gender as part of the word that must be memorized.

Why is it drôle and not something like drôleuse or with a feminine ending?

Adjectives in French usually agree in gender and number with the noun, but many adjectives have the same spelling for masculine and feminine in the singular.

Drôle is one of these adjectives:

• Masculine singular: Il est drôle. (He is funny.)
• Feminine singular: Elle est drôle. (She is funny.)
• Masculine plural: Ils sont drôles.
• Feminine plural: Elles sont drôles.

So in Cette conversation est drôle:

• conversation = feminine singular
• drôle = feminine singular form, which happens to be written exactly the same as the masculine singular form

In the plural, you simply add an s: des conversations drôles.

What’s the difference between drôle, amusant, and marrant?

They all can mean funny, but their nuance and register differ:

• drôle

  • Neutral and very common.
  • Can mean funny in the sense of making you laugh:
    
    • Ce film est drôle. – This movie is funny.
  • Can also mean strange/odd depending on context:
    
    • C’est drôle, il est toujours en retard. – That’s odd, he’s always late.

• amusant(e)

  • Also common, slightly more on the “entertaining” side than laugh-out-loud funny.
  • Often used for things that are enjoyable:
    
    • Ce jeu est amusant. – This game is fun/entertaining.

• marrant(e)

  • Informal/colloquial.
  • Similar to funny in spoken English:
    
    • Il est marrant, ton frère. – Your brother is funny.

In your sentence, drôle is a good neutral choice: Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

Why is it le sujet and not un sujet?

Both are grammatically possible, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing:

• le sujet est important – the subject is important

  • We are talking about a specific, known subject (the topic of this conversation).
  • It implies: the particular subject we are discussing right now is important.

• un sujet est important – a subject is important

  • This would sound odd here.
  • It would mean something like a (random, unspecified) subject is important, which is not what is meant.

In your sentence, le sujet refers specifically to the topic of this conversation, so the definite article (le) is the natural choice.

Why does important come after sujet? Can I say le important sujet?

In French, adjectives usually come after the noun:

• un sujet important – an important subject
• une idée intéressante – an interesting idea
• une conversation drôle – a funny conversation

So:

• le sujet est important = the subject is important

You cannot say le important sujet. The structure with être is:

[noun] + est + [adjective]

Just like in English: The subject is important.

Note: some common adjectives (like beau, grand, petit, bon, mauvais) often come before the noun (e.g. un grand sujet), but important normally goes after the noun.

What’s the difference between est and et? They sound the same to me.

They do sound the same in most accents, but they are completely different words, and you must not confuse them.

• est

  • 3rd person singular of être (to be): il/elle/on est = he/she/one is
  • In your sentence: Cette conversation est drôle – This conversation is funny.

• et

  • Means and (conjunction):
    
    • Pierre et Marie – Pierre and Marie
    • drôle et important – funny and important

In your sentence you need est because you are saying “is funny”, not “and funny”.

Can I say Cette conversation est marrante, mais le sujet est important instead?

Yes, you can. The main difference is register:

• drôle – neutral, standard, good in spoken and written French
• marrant(e) – colloquial, more informal

So:

• Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

  • Neutral, fine in almost any context.

• Cette conversation est marrante, mais le sujet est important.

  • Sounds more casual, something you’d say to friends.

The meaning is essentially the same: the conversation makes you laugh, but the topic is serious/important.

Could I use C’est instead of Cette conversation est here?

You could say C’est drôle, mais le sujet est important, but the focus changes slightly:

• Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

  • Very precise: this conversation is funny.
  • The subject is the conversation itself.

• C’est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

  • More general: This is funny, but the subject is important.
  • It could refer to the situation, what someone just said, the conversation, etc., not necessarily only the conversation.

If you want to be explicitly clear that it’s the conversation that is funny, your original version is better: Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

How would I make this sentence negative, like “This conversation is not funny, but the subject is important”?

To make a sentence with être negative, you wrap it with ne … pas:

• Cette conversation n’est pas drôle, mais le sujet est important.

Changes:

1. ne goes before est
2. Because est starts with a vowel, ne becomes n’: n’est
3. pas goes after the verb

Structure:

[subject] + ne / n’ + [être] + pas + [adjective]

So:

• Cette conversation n’est pas drôle – This conversation is not funny
• mais le sujet est important stays positive and unchanged.

Does drôle in this sentence mean “funny” or “strange/odd”? I’ve seen both.

Drôle can mean either, depending on context:

1. Funny / amusing:

   • Ce film est vraiment drôle. – This film is really funny.

2. Strange / odd:

   • C’est drôle, il ne répond jamais à mes messages. – It’s odd, he never answers my messages.

In your sentence:

• Cette conversation est drôle, mais le sujet est important.

Most likely, drôle means funny, because it’s contrasted with important: the tone (conversation) is funny, while the topic (subject) is serious.

However, in some contexts it could also mean something like “weird/odd,” e.g. This conversation is weird, but the subject is important. The exact nuance depends on the situation and tone of voice.