Learn Hardcore French: Je trouve que cette salade est très saine, même si elle est un peu ennuyeuse. - I find that this salad is very healthy, even if it is a bit boring.

Je pense que = I think that (neutral, intellectual opinion).
Je crois que = I believe that (a bit more about personal belief or conviction).
Je trouve que = I find that / I feel that (more subjective, often based on personal impression).

In this sentence:

Je trouve que cette salade est très saine… suggests a personal, maybe sensory judgment (after seeing, tasting, or knowing the ingredients), not a detached, logical analysis. It’s like saying: “Personally, I find this salad very healthy…”

Why do we need que after je trouve? Could we say Je trouve cette salade est très saine?

No, Je trouve cette salade est très saine is incorrect.

You have two different correct structures:

With que introducing a full clause:
- Je trouve que cette salade est très saine.
  → que introduces the subordinate clause cette salade est très saine.
Without que, using a direct object + complement:
- Je trouve cette salade très saine.
  → Here, cette salade is the direct object of trouve, and très saine is its complement (a bit like “I find this salad very healthy”).

So:

Either Je trouve que + [subject + verb]
Or Je trouve + [direct object] + [adjective]
But not a mix of the two.

Why is it cette salade and not ce salade? How do I know salade is feminine?

In French, every noun has a grammatical gender:

salade is feminine, so you must use the feminine demonstrative adjective cette (this/that).
The masculine forms would be ce (before a consonant) or cet (before a vowel or mute h).

You simply have to learn the gender with the noun:

une salade (a salad) → feminine
therefore: cette salade (this salad)

The gender also affects the adjectives:

sain (masculine) → saine (feminine)
ennuyeux (masculine) → ennuyeuse (feminine)

Everything must agree with salade in gender and number.

Why is it saine and not sain here?

Because adjectives must agree with the noun they describe:

Noun: cette salade → feminine singular
Adjective base form: sain (healthy)
Feminine singular form: saine

So:

un plat sain (a healthy dish) – masculine
une salade saine (a healthy salad) – feminine

In the sentence, saine matches the gender and number of salade.

What exactly does saine mean here, and how is it different from en bonne santé or bon pour la santé?

In this context:

saine = healthy, wholesome, good for your health (about food, lifestyle, environment, etc.).

The nuances:

en bonne santé literally means in good health and is mostly used for people or living beings:
- Il est en bonne santé. = He is in good health.
bon pour la santé means good for (your) health:
- Cette salade est bonne pour la santé. = This salad is good for your health.

So, for food:

cette salade est très saine and
cette salade est très bonne pour la santé

both mean that the salad is healthy, but saine is more compact and a bit more “adjectival” in style.

What does même si mean in this sentence? Is it “even if” or “even though”?

Même si can translate as either even if or even though, depending on context.

Here:

Je trouve que cette salade est très saine, même si elle est un peu ennuyeuse.

The salad is a specific salad the speaker knows, so the boring side is presented as a real fact. In English, this feels more like:

“…even though it is a bit boring.”

General guideline:

If it’s about a real, known situation → often even though in English.
If it’s hypothetical → often even if.

French uses même si for both; you infer the nuance from context.

Why is it elle est un peu ennuyeuse and not c’est un peu ennuyeux?

Both are possible, but they’re structured differently and sound slightly different:

Elle est un peu ennuyeuse.
- elle refers directly back to cette salade.
- ennuyeuse agrees with the feminine subject elle.
- More precise grammatically: subject pronoun + agreeing adjective.
C’est un peu ennuyeux.
- c’ is a neutral ce (it/that), more vague.
- ennuyeux stays in the default masculine/neutral form.
- Sounds more like a general comment: “It’s a bit boring.”

In the given sentence, using elle keeps the reference very clear to la salade, and the agreement (ennuyeuse) matches.

Why is the adjective ennuyeuse used, and not something like ennuyante?

Both forms exist, but they’re not used in the same way:

ennuyeux / ennuyeuse is the common adjective meaning boring.
- Cette salade est un peu ennuyeuse. = This salad is a bit boring.
ennuyant / ennuyante can also mean “boring,” but in modern usage:
- ennuyeux / ennuyeuse is strongly preferred for “boring.”
- ennuyant is more often understood as “annoying/troublesome” or is used in more specific contexts (and can sound less natural in many “boring” contexts).

So:

For “boring movie, boring book, boring salad,” use ennuyeux / ennuyeuse.
Cette salade est un peu ennuyeuse is the standard, natural choice.

Why is un peu placed before ennuyeuse? Could it go somewhere else?

In French, adverbs like un peu, très, trop, vraiment generally go before the adjective they modify.

So:

elle est un peu ennuyeuse = she/it is a bit boring.

Other correct examples:

elle est très ennuyeuse – she/it is very boring.
elle est vraiment ennuyeuse – she/it is really boring.

You cannot say:

elle est ennuyeuse un peu (this is wrong or at least very unnatural for describing a quality).

The normal pattern is:
[subject] + [être] + [adverb] + [adjective]
→ elle est un peu ennuyeuse.

Why is it est and not c’est in cette salade est très saine?

You use est (a form of être) when you already have a clear noun as the subject:

Cette salade est très saine.
- subject: cette salade
- verb: est
- adjective: très saine

You use c’est when:

you’re introducing something more generally, or
the subject is the pronoun ce rather than a specific noun.

For example:

C’est très sain. – It’s very healthy. (general comment)
Je trouve que c’est très sain. – I find that it’s very healthy.

In the original sentence, we want to talk specifically about this salad, so:

cette salade est très saine is the most explicit.

Could I say Je trouve cette salade très saine, même si elle est un peu ennuyeuse instead? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, that sentence is correct, and the meaning is almost the same.

Je trouve que cette salade est très saine…
- You’re giving your opinion about a full statement: “this salad is very healthy.”
Je trouve cette salade très saine…
- You’re directly attributing the quality très saine to cette salade, without the que-clause.

Both mean roughly:

“I find this salad very healthy, even though it’s a bit boring.”

The difference is mostly structural and slightly stylistic; there is no big change in meaning here.

What tense and person is je trouve? How is it pronounced?

Je trouve is:

1st person singular (I)
present tense of the verb trouver (to find, to think).

Conjugation in the present:

je trouve
tu trouves
il/elle/on trouve
nous trouvons
vous trouvez
ils/elles trouvent

Pronunciation tips:

je trouve ≈ /ʒ(ə) tʁuv/
- je: like the “s” in measure.
- trou-: like troo.
- final -ve is pronounced /v/.
  So it sounds roughly like “zhuh troov”.