Ce village est très silencieux la nuit.

In French, ce and cet are both masculine singular demonstrative adjectives meaning this / that, but they are used in different situations:

• ce is used before a masculine singular noun that starts with a consonant sound:
  
  • ce village
  • ce garçon
• cet is used before a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel or mute h:
  
  • cet arbre
  • cet homme
  • cet hôtel

Village starts with the consonant sound v, so you must use ce village, not cet village.

Both are correct, but the structure and emphasis are slightly different:

• Ce village est très silencieux.

  • Literally: This village is very quiet/silent.
  • The subject is ce village, and très silencieux is a complement describing it.

• C’est un village très silencieux.

  • Literally: It is a very quiet village. / This is a very quiet village.
  • The subject is the pronoun ce
    • être, followed by a noun phrase (un village très silencieux).

In practice:

• Use Ce village est… when you already know which village you’re talking about, and you are just describing it.
• Use C’est un village… more to introduce or classify: It’s a (kind of) village that is very quiet.

Adjectives in French must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

• Village is a masculine singular noun: un village.
• Therefore the adjective must also be masculine singular: silencieux.

Forms of this adjective:

• Masculine singular: silencieux
• Feminine singular: silencieuse
• Masculine plural: silencieux (same spelling as singular)
• Feminine plural: silencieuses

Examples:

• Ce village est silencieux. (masc. sing.)
• Cette ville est silencieuse. (fem. sing.)
• Ces villages sont silencieux. (masc. pl.)
• Ces rues sont silencieuses. (fem. pl.)

All three can be translated as quiet, but they are not identical:

• silencieux: focuses on silence, almost no sound.

  • Ce village est très silencieux la nuit. = Very little noise at night.

• calme: more about calmness and absence of agitation (can be physical or emotional).

  • Le village est calme aujourd’hui. = People aren’t agitated; atmosphere is peaceful.

• tranquille: suggests peaceful, undisturbed, not bothered.

  • C’est un village tranquille. = It’s a peaceful, uneventful village.

In your sentence, silencieux emphasizes the lack of noise, which fits well with la nuit.

Yes, you can move la nuit to the beginning:

• Ce village est très silencieux la nuit.
• La nuit, ce village est très silencieux.

Both are correct. The difference is just in emphasis and style:

• End position (…silencieux la nuit) is very common and neutral.
• Beginning position (La nuit, …) slightly emphasizes the time: At night, this village is very quiet.

You cannot say Ce village la nuit est très silencieux in standard French; the time expression doesn’t normally go between the subject and the verb like that.

In French, general time expressions often use a definite article without a preposition, where English uses at / in / on:

• le matin = in the morning
• l’après-midi = in the afternoon
• le soir = in the evening
• la nuit = at night

So:

• Ce village est très silencieux la nuit. = This village is very quiet at night.

You would not say à la nuit here. À la nuit is rare and would sound strange or old‑fashioned in this context.

For other nuances, French uses different structures:

• la nuit = at night (in general)
• dans la nuit = in the night / during the night (within that period)
• pendant la nuit = during the night

The present tense est (from être) is used here to express a general, habitual fact:

• Ce village est très silencieux la nuit.
  = This village is (generally) very quiet at night.

You could use other tenses depending on meaning:

• Ce village était très silencieux la nuit.
  = The village used to be / was very quiet at night (in the past).

• Ce village sera très silencieux la nuit.
  = The village will be very quiet at night (future).

• Ce village est très silencieux cette nuit.
  = This village is very quiet tonight (specific night).

Très means very and intensifies the adjective:

• silencieux = quiet / silent
• très silencieux = very quiet / very silent

You can replace très with other intensifiers, with slightly different levels of emphasis or style:

• vraiment silencieux = really quiet
• tellement silencieux = so quiet
• particulièrement silencieux = particularly quiet
• extrêmement silencieux = extremely quiet

Note: You cannot use beaucoup with an adjective:

• ❌ beaucoup silencieux is wrong.
• ✅ très silencieux is correct.

Yes, village is always masculine in French:

• un village, le village, ce village, mon village

Unfortunately, the gender of many nouns in French is not fully predictable and must be learned with the word. However, some endings have tendencies:

• Nouns ending in -age are usually masculine:
  
  • un village, un garage, un voyage, un fromage
    (There are a few exceptions, but they are rare.)

A good habit: when you learn village, always learn it with its article: un village (masculine).

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):

• Ce → /sə/
• village → /vi.laʒ/
• est → /ɛ/
• très → /tʁɛ/
• silencieux → /si.lɑ̃.sjø/
• la → /la/
• nuit → /nɥi/

Full sentence:
Ce village est très silencieux la nuit.
/ sə vi.laʒ ɛ tʁɛ si.lɑ̃.sjø la nɥi /

Notes:

• No liaison between village and est: the final -e of village is silent.
• Est très: the t of est is not pronounced; you only hear the t of très.
• nuit has the French [ɥ] sound, similar to saying “nwee” in English but shorter and more blended: nɥi.

All three contain ce, meaning this / that, but:

• ce village = this/that village (context decides which)
• ce village-ci = this village (here) – more precise, emphasizes nearness
• ce village-là = that village (there) – emphasizes distance

Examples:

• Ce village est très silencieux la nuit. = This/that village is very quiet at night.
• Ce village-ci est très silencieux la nuit, mais ce village-là est très animé.
  = This village (here) is very quiet at night, but that village (there) is very lively.

Grammatically, yes:

• Cette ville est très silencieuse la nuit.

Changes:

• ville is feminine, so:
  • cette instead of ce
  • silencieuse instead of silencieux

Meaning difference:

• village: smaller, rural place.
• ville: town or city, generally larger and more urban.

So your original sentence specifically describes a small town / village, not a city.