Learn Hardcore French: Ce dont Paul a peur, c’est d’oublier ses mots pendant la séance. - What Paul is afraid of is forgetting his words during the session.

In Ce dont Paul a peur, c’est d’oublier ses mots…, the chunk ce dont roughly means “what / the thing (that) …” with the idea of “about which / of which”.

dont is a relative pronoun that replaces de + something (often de + noun or de + infinitive).
The verb avoir peur de (to be afraid of) needs de:
- Paul a peur de quelque chose.

When we turn de quelque chose into a relative clause, de + quelque chose → dont:

Ce dont Paul a peur
= That which Paul is afraid of
= What Paul is afraid of

ce que and ce qui cannot replace de + something, so they don’t work with avoir peur de here.

ce que → replaces a direct object (no preposition)
ce qui → replaces a subject

Since we need “of which”, we must use dont, not que or qui.

How does dont connect to the verb avoir peur exactly?

The key expression is avoir peur de + something = to be afraid of something.

Basic form: Paul a peur de l’examen.
(Paul is afraid of the exam.)

Now, if we want to say “what Paul is afraid of”, we replace de l’examen with dont:

Ce dont Paul a peur
Literally: That of which Paul has fear
Idiomatic: What Paul is afraid of

So dont stands for de + [the thing he fears]. It keeps the de that is required by avoir peur de, but moves it to the front in the relative pronoun.

Can this sentence be said in a simpler way without ce dont?

Yes. A simpler, more neutral word order is:

Paul a peur d’oublier ses mots pendant la séance.
(Paul is afraid of forgetting his words during the session.)

The original sentence uses a cleft structure to emphasize what he’s afraid of:

Ce dont Paul a peur, c’est d’oublier ses mots pendant la séance.
= What Paul is afraid of is forgetting his words during the session.

Same meaning, but the cleft sentence highlights the thing he fears. The simpler version is very common in everyday speech.

What is the role of c’est in ce dont Paul a peur, c’est d’oublier…?

This c’est is part of a cleft construction of the form:

Ce dont X a peur, c’est Y.

It literally looks like:

That which X is afraid of, it is Y.

Functionally, we could break it down as:

Ce dont Paul a peur – What Paul is afraid of
c’est d’oublier ses mots… – is forgetting his words…

So c’est links the emphasized clause (Ce dont Paul a peur) to its explanation (d’oublier ses mots…). Without the cleft, you can drop this whole structure and just say:

Paul a peur d’oublier ses mots…

Why do we have d’oublier and not just oublier after c’est?

In French, when an infinitive verb acts as a kind of noun-like idea (an action considered in general), it is very often introduced by de in this kind of structure:

Ce dont Paul a peur, c’est d’oublier ses mots.

Here, d’oublier ses mots is the specific thing that Paul fears. The de (contracted to d’) connects c’est with the infinitive phrase.

You’ll see similar patterns with many verbs and expressions of fear, hope, regret, etc.:

J’ai peur d’échouer. – I’m afraid of failing.
Mon plus grand rêve, c’est de voyager. – My biggest dream is to travel.

So d’oublier = “to forget” as an action, introduced by de.

Why is it d’oublier and not de oublier?

This is just elision, a normal spelling rule in French.

de
- a word starting with a vowel or silent h → d’
  - that word.

Since oublier starts with o (a vowel), de oublier becomes d’oublier.

Same pattern:

de aimer → d’aimer
de écouter → d’écouter

Why is it ses mots and not les mots or des mots?

Ses is the possessive adjective for “his” / “her” / “its” (plural noun):

ses mots = his words (here, Paul’s words)

Choosing ses emphasizes that these are Paul’s own words (for example, during a talk, presentation, or therapy session).

les mots = the words (more general; could mean some specific words known from context, but not clearly belonging to him)
des mots = some words (indefinite, random words)

Since the idea is that Paul is afraid of forgetting his own words while speaking, ses mots is the most natural.

What exactly does séance mean here? Is it like “seance” in English?

French une séance is usually:

a session, meeting, class, or appointment (could be a therapy session, a coaching session, a rehearsal, etc.)
also: une séance de cinéma = a film showing / screening.

The English word “seance” (spiritualist meeting with ghosts, etc.) is a false friend. That meaning exists in French too, but it’s only one specific type of séance, and it normally needs more context (e.g. une séance de spiritisme).

In your sentence, pendant la séance almost certainly just means “during the session / meeting / appointment”, not a ghost seance.

Why is it Paul a peur and not Paul est peur?

In French, “to be afraid” is expressed with the verb avoir (to have), not être (to be):

avoir peur = to be afraid / to be scared
Paul a peur = Paul is afraid

Saying Paul est peur is incorrect in standard French.

This is similar to other common expressions:

avoir faim – to be hungry (literally: to have hunger)
avoir soif – to be thirsty
avoir froid / chaud – to be cold / hot

Could we say Ce dont a peur Paul instead of Ce dont Paul a peur?

Ce dont Paul a peur is the normal, natural order.

While Ce dont a peur Paul is grammatically possible, it sounds very literary or poetic, not like everyday French. In neutral prose and normal speech, you should keep:

Ce dont Paul a peur
(subject Paul comes right after dont, then the verb a.)

So for normal usage, stick with Ce dont Paul a peur, c’est d’oublier ses mots pendant la séance.