Learn Hardcore French: Ce journaliste parle vite, mais son accent est très clair. - This journalist speaks fast, but his accent is very clear.

ce before a masculine noun starting with a consonant: ce journaliste
cet before a masculine noun starting with a vowel or mute h: cet homme, cet auteur
cette before any feminine noun: cette journaliste, cette femme

Since journaliste here is treated as masculine and starts with a consonant sound /ʒ/, you use ce journaliste.

Is journaliste masculine or feminine?

Journaliste can be either masculine or feminine. The form of the word doesn’t change; you know the gender from the article or adjectives around it:

Ce journaliste = masculine (this male journalist)
Cette journaliste = feminine (this female journalist)

In your sentence, ce tells us the speaker is talking about a male journalist.

What exactly does parle mean here, and which tense is it?

Parle is the 3rd person singular present of the verb parler (to speak):

il parle = he speaks / he is speaking

French present tense covers both English “speaks” (habitual) and “is speaking” (right now).
So Ce journaliste parle vite can mean:

This journalist speaks fast (in general), or
This journalist is speaking fast (right now), depending on context.

Why is it parle vite and not parle rapidement or parle viteMENT?

Vite is already an adverb that means “fast / quickly”, so you don’t add -ment:

parler vite = to speak fast / quickly
There is no form *vitemment in French.

You could also say:

parler rapidement = to speak rapidly / quickly

Both are correct, but parler vite is more common in everyday spoken French and feels more natural in this sentence.

Is vite an adjective or an adverb here?

In parle vite, vite is an adverb modifying the verb parler:

vite = quickly, fast

If it were an adjective, it would describe a noun, but here it describes how he speaks, so it’s an adverb.

What does mais mean, and how is it used?

Mais means “but”. It’s a coordinating conjunction that contrasts two ideas:

Ce journaliste parle vite, mais son accent est très clair.
→ This journalist speaks fast, but his accent is very clear.

So the contrast is: speaking quickly vs. having a clear accent.

Why is it son accent and not sa accent?

French possessive adjectives (son / sa / ses) agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed, not with the person who owns it.

accent is masculine singular → you must use son
- son accent = his / her accent

Even if the journalist were a woman, you would still say son accent, because accent is masculine.
For a feminine noun, you would use sa:

sa voix = his / her voice (because voix is feminine)

Why is clair masculine here? Could it be claire?

Clair / claire is an adjective meaning “clear”. It must agree with the noun it describes:

accent is masculine singular → un accent clair, son accent est clair
For a feminine noun, you’d use claire:
- une voix claire, sa voix est claire

So in son accent est très clair, clair matches accent (masculine), so it stays clair.

What’s the difference between très and trop before an adjective like clair?

Both are intensifiers, but they’re not the same:

très clair = very clear (strong, but neutral/positive)
trop clair = too clear (excessive, usually negative or problematic)

In your sentence:

son accent est très clair = his accent is very clear
son accent est trop clair would mean it’s too clear, which doesn’t fit the intended meaning.

Where does vite usually go in a sentence like this? Can I move it?

In simple sentences with one verb, adverbs like vite usually come right after the verb:

Il parle vite. = He speaks fast.

You can sometimes move it for emphasis, but it’s much less common or sounds marked:

Vite, il parle. (sounds poetic / unusual here)
Il parle très vite. (more natural way to intensify: add très before vite)

So parle vite is the standard word order.

Could I say Ce journaliste a un accent très clair, mais il parle vite instead?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct:

Ce journaliste a un accent très clair, mais il parle vite.
→ This journalist has a very clear accent, but he speaks fast.

The meaning is nearly the same. The original sentence simply keeps the structure parallel:

parle vite (verb + adverb)
son accent est très clair (noun + verb + adjective)

Your version changes the second part to a un accent très clair (has a very clear accent), which is also natural.

What’s the difference between ce journaliste and le journaliste?

Both can be translated as “the journalist”, but they don’t feel the same:

ce journaliste = this / that journalist
- points to a specific person in the situation (the one you’re watching or talking about)
le journaliste = the journalist in a more general, definite way
- the journalist already known from context or as a type

In your sentence, Ce journaliste sounds like the speaker is referring to a particular journalist in front of them (on TV, radio, etc.).

Are there any pronunciation tips for this sentence, especially parle, vite, and accent?

Yes:

Ce → /sə/ (like “suh”)
journaliste → /ʒuʁ.na.list/
- j like the s in “measure”
- final e is pronounced here because the word is more than one syllable and ends in -iste.
parle → /paʁl/
- final e is silent; you hear it as parl.
vite → /vit/
- the t is pronounced, unlike in many other French words; it sounds roughly like veet.
accent → /ak.sɑ̃/
- cc = /ks/
- -ent = nasalized an sound /ɑ̃/, not pronounced “ent”
claire (if you ever use the feminine) → /klɛʁ/; clair is the same pronunciation.

The final s of mais is silent here: mais son accent → /mɛ sɔ̃n ak.sɑ̃/, with no liaison between mais and son.