Learn Hardcore French: Ce désert ressemble à la colline près de notre village. - This desert looks like the hill near our village.

In French, ce / cet / cette are all forms of “this / that” (demonstrative adjectives), and which one you use depends on the gender and first sound of the following noun:

ce = before a masculine singular noun starting with a consonant
- ce désert (masculine, starts with d)
cet = before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel sound or mute h
- cet arbre, cet homme, cet hôtel
cette = before a feminine singular noun (any starting letter)
- cette colline, cette maison

Since désert is masculine and begins with the consonant d, the correct form is ce désert.

Why do we say ressemble à and not just ressemble, like in English “resembles the hill”?

In French, the verb ressembler almost always takes the preposition à:

ressembler à quelqu’un / quelque chose = to resemble someone / something

So the structure is:

Sujet + ressembler à + complément
Ce désert ressemble à la colline…

It would be incorrect to say ✗ Ce désert ressemble la colline.

Very close alternatives are:

Ce désert est comme la colline… (is like the hill)
Ce désert a l’air de la colline… (looks like / seems like the hill, slightly different nuance)

But with ressembler, you must keep à.

Why is it ressemble and not ressemblent?

The verb form depends on the subject:

Subject: Ce désert → 3rd person singular (il)
Present tense of ressembler for il/elle/on: il ressemble

So:

Ce désert ressemble… ✅
Ces déserts ressemblent… (plural subject → ressemblent)

You only use ressemblent if the subject is plural:

Ces montagnes ressemblent à la colline…

Why is it à la colline and not à le colline or au colline?

In French, the preposition à + a definite article often contracts:

à + le = au
à + les = aux
à + la = à la (no change)
à + l’ = à l’ (no change)

The noun colline is:

feminine
singular

So its definite article is la:

à + la colline → à la colline

You would only use au with a masculine singular noun:

au village (from à + le village)

Why is it la colline and not une colline?

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

la colline = the hill, a specific hill that the speaker and listener can identify.
- In this sentence, it’s “the hill near our village” – a known, particular hill.
une colline = a hill, any hill, non‑specific.

Because the sentence talks about “the hill near our village” (a particular, familiar hill), French naturally uses the definite article: la colline.

How do we know désert is masculine and colline is feminine?

Unfortunately, grammatical gender in French is largely lexical: you have to learn it with the noun.

In this sentence:

un désert / le désert / ce désert → masculine
une colline / la colline / cette colline → feminine

A couple of tips (not rules, but tendencies):

Many words ending in -e are feminine → la colline fits this.
Many words without final -e are masculine → le désert fits this.

But there are many exceptions, so it’s best to memorize the noun with its article or with a demonstrative:

un désert, ce désert
une colline, cette colline

Why is it près de notre village and not just près notre village?

The expression is près de = near / close to. It always takes de before the following noun or pronoun:

près de la maison = near the house
près du village = near the village
près de Paris = near Paris
près de chez nous = near our place

In this sentence, the noun has a possessive determiner:

notre village (our village)

So you get:

près de + notre village → près de notre village

You cannot drop de; ✗ près notre village is incorrect.

Why is it près de notre village and not près du village here?

Both structures are correct French, but they don’t say the same thing.

près du village = near the village (some particular village, but not explicitly “ours”)
près de notre village = near our village (clearly indicates possession: it’s our village)

In your sentence, the idea is specifically our village, so notre is used:

près de notre village = near our village

What exactly does près de mean, and how is it different from proche de?

Both relate to closeness, but they’re used slightly differently:

près de = near / close to
- Very common, neutral, used in space and sometimes time:
  - La maison est près de la gare.
  - Nous sommes près de l’arrivée.
proche de = also close to / near, but:
- Sounds a bit more formal or descriptive.
- Can be used for emotional / relational closeness too:
  - Je suis proche de ma famille.

In your sentence, près de notre village is the most natural, everyday way to say “near our village.”
You could say proche de notre village, but it sounds more descriptive or written, and is less common in simple, neutral speech in this context.

Why is it notre village and not nos village?

Notre and nos both mean our, but they agree with the number of the noun:

notre = our + singular noun
- notre village (our village)
- notre maison (our house)
nos = our + plural noun
- nos villages (our villages)
- nos maisons (our houses)

Since village is singular, you must use notre village.

Can this sentence also mean “That desert looks like the hill near our village”? Does ce mean “this” or “that”?

French ce covers both “this” and “that”. Which one you choose in English depends on context, not a grammatical difference in French.

Ce désert ressemble à la colline…
→ Depending on context, it can be translated as:
- This desert looks like the hill…
- That desert looks like the hill…

If you really want to emphasize this (one here) or that (one over there), spoken French sometimes adds:

ce désert‑ci = this desert (here, closer)
ce désert‑là = that desert (there, farther)

But in everyday speech, simple ce désert is usually enough, and English translators choose “this” or “that” by context.

How is the whole sentence pronounced, and are there any tricky silent letters or liaisons?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):

Ce désert ressemble à la colline près de notre village.
→ /sə dezɛʀ ʀəsɑ̃bl a la kɔlin pʀɛ də nɔtʀ vilɑʒ/

Key points:

Ce → /sə/ (like “suh”)
désert → /dezɛʀ/
- Final t is silent here.
ressemble → /ʀəsɑ̃bl/
- The -embl- sounds roughly like [ɑ̃bl], nasal vowel + “bl”.
à la → /a la/ (both vowels clearly pronounced)
colline → /kɔlin/ (double l just /l/)
près → /pʀɛ/
- Final s is silent.
- The grave accent è = open “eh” sound.
de → /də/ (like a short “duh”)
notre → /nɔtʀ/ (the e is very weak or almost absent in casual speech)
village → /vilɑʒ/ (final -ge → /ʒ/ as in “measure”)

No obligatory liaison in this exact sequence, because the words that end with normally liaison‑able consonants are followed by consonants, not vowels. For example:

désert ressemble: no liaison because ressemble starts with r, a consonant.

Could we rephrase the sentence, or is Ce désert ressemble à la colline… the only natural option?

You can definitely rephrase it. Some natural alternatives:

Ce désert est comme la colline près de notre village.
→ This desert is like the hill near our village.
Ce désert a l’air de la colline près de notre village.
→ This desert looks like / seems like the hill near our village.
Ce désert fait penser à la colline près de notre village.
→ This desert reminds (you/me/us) of the hill near our village.

But if you specifically want the idea of “resembles”, the most direct and standard way is exactly what you have:

Ce désert ressemble à la colline près de notre village.