Ce samedi, une grande manifestation pour le climat traverse le centre‑ville.

This Saturday, a big demonstration for the climate goes through the downtown area.

Breakdown of Ce samedi, une grande manifestation pour le climat traverse le centre‑ville.

• grand: big
• pour: for
• le samedi: the Saturday
• ce: this
• traverser: to go through
• le climat: the climate
• le centre-ville: the downtown
• la manifestation: the demonstration

Questions & Answers about Ce samedi, une grande manifestation pour le climat traverse le centre‑ville.

What exactly does Ce samedi mean, and how is it different from just samedi?

Ce samedi means “this Saturday” (the Saturday that is coming / the one people know you’re talking about).

Compare:

• Ce samedi, je pars. = I’m leaving this Saturday.
• Samedi, je pars. = I’m leaving on Saturday. (usually also the coming Saturday, but a bit less “pointed” than ce samedi)
• Samedi prochain, je pars. = I’m leaving next Saturday. (explicitly “next”)

So ce samedi is more clearly “this one, the specific upcoming Saturday” than plain samedi.

Why is it ce samedi and not cette samedi?

Because samedi is grammatically masculine in French.

Demonstrative adjectives agree with the noun:

• ce
  • masculine singular: ce samedi, ce livre
• cet
  • masculine singular before vowel / mute h: cet homme, cet été
• cette
  • feminine singular: cette semaine, cette ville
• ces
  • any plural: ces samedis, ces manifestations

So it must be ce samedi, not cette samedi.

Could I move Ce samedi to the end of the sentence?

Yes. These versions are all correct, with only a slight difference in emphasis:

• Ce samedi, une grande manifestation pour le climat traverse le centre‑ville.
  → Time is highlighted first: This Saturday, a big climate protest goes through downtown.

• Une grande manifestation pour le climat traverse le centre‑ville ce samedi.
  → The event itself comes first; the time comes as extra information at the end.

Meaning-wise, they’re practically the same.

What does manifestation mean here? Is it the same as English manifestation?

In this context, une manifestation means “a (public) demonstration, a protest, a march.”

It is a bit of a false friend:

• French une manifestation (politique, pour le climat, etc.)
  = a protest, a rally, a march
• English manifestation usually means “showing, display, sign, expression” (e.g. “a manifestation of anger”), not usually a street protest.

So here, une grande manifestation pour le climat = a big climate protest / a large climate march.

Why is it une grande manifestation and not un grand manifestation?

Because manifestation is a feminine noun in French.

That affects:

• The article: une (feminine) instead of un
• The adjective: grand becomes grande in the feminine

So you get:

• une manifestation (feminine noun)
• une grande manifestation (feminine article + feminine adjective + noun)

Using un grand manifestation would be incorrect gender agreement.

Why does the adjective grande come before manifestation? I thought French adjectives usually go after the noun.

Many French adjectives do go after the noun, but there is a common group that usually comes before. A classic mnemonic is BAGS:

• Beauty: beau, joli…
• Age: jeune, vieux, nouveau…
• Goodness: bon, mauvais, gentil…
• Size: grand, petit, gros…

Grand(e) is a size adjective, so it normally comes before the noun:

• une grande manifestation
• un petit village
• une belle ville

Other adjectives (e.g. intéressant, politique, vert) typically follow the noun: une manifestation importante, une manifestation politique, etc.

What exactly does pour le climat mean? Why pour le climat and not something like sur le climat?

Pour le climat literally means “for the climate”, in the sense of “in favor of the climate / to protect the climate.”

• pour here expresses support, cause, purpose:
  une manifestation pour le climat = a protest for the climate (to defend it, to demand climate action)

If you said sur le climat, it would rather mean “about climate”, like a discussion topic:

• un débat sur le climat = a debate about climate

So for a protest in favor of climate protection, pour le climat is the natural expression.

Why is it pour le climat and not pour la climat or pour climat?

Because:

1. Climat is masculine in French → le climat
   So you must say pour le climat, not pour la climat.

2. In French you normally need the definite article (le / la / les) with a general concept like “the climate.”
   You cannot normally drop it as in English “for climate”; you say pour le climat.

So the correct form is pour le climat (masculine + article required).

What is the subject of the verb traverse in this sentence?

The subject is une grande manifestation pour le climat.

Breakdown:

• Ce samedi = time expression (adverbial), not the subject
• une grande manifestation pour le climat = subject noun phrase
• traverse = verb (3rd person singular present)
• le centre-ville = direct object

So structurally:
Ce samedi, [une grande manifestation pour le climat] (subject) [traverse] (verb) [le centre‑ville] (object).

Why is the verb in the present tense (traverse) if the event is in the future (this Saturday)?

French often uses the present tense to talk about near-future, scheduled, or planned events, especially with a time expression like ce samedi:

• Ce soir, je dîne chez Paul. = Tonight, I’m having dinner at Paul’s.
• Demain, je pars à 8h. = Tomorrow, I leave at 8.

So:

• Ce samedi, une grande manifestation pour le climat traverse le centre‑ville.
  = This Saturday, a big climate protest goes through the city centre.

It’s similar to English when we say “The train leaves at 9” about a future timetable.

Could I say traversera or va traverser instead of traverse?

Yes, both are grammatically correct, but they sound slightly different:

• traverse (present):
  Neutral, commonly used for timetabled / scheduled events, especially with a time word:

  • Ce samedi, une grande manifestation… traverse le centre-ville.

• va traverser (near future: is going to cross):
  Emphasises the idea of something that is going to happen soon:

  • Ce samedi, une grande manifestation… va traverser le centre-ville.

• traversera (simple future: will cross):
  Slightly more formal/literary or simply more “future-sounding”:

  • Ce samedi, une grande manifestation… traversera le centre-ville.

All three can be used; traverse with the time expression ce samedi is very natural.

Why is there no preposition (like “through”) before le centre‑ville after traverse?

Because in French the verb traverser itself means “to cross / go through” and it directly takes a direct object:

• traverser la rue = to cross the street
• traverser la forêt = to go through the forest
• traverser le centre‑ville = to go through the city centre / downtown

In English, you often need a preposition (through, across), but in French it is built into the verb traverser, so no extra preposition is used.

What does le centre‑ville mean, and why is there a hyphen?

Le centre‑ville means roughly “the city centre” (BrE) or “downtown” (AmE/CanE, especially in Canadian French).

• centre = centre
• ville = town/city
• Together as one hyphenated noun: centre‑ville (a fixed compound noun)
• It is masculine: le centre‑ville, un centre‑ville animé

The hyphen simply shows that it is treated as a single lexical unit, not just “centre of the city” (le centre de la ville would be that analytic form).

How would the sentence change if there were several protests instead of one?

You would put the subject phrase in the plural and match the verb:

• Ce samedi, de grandes manifestations pour le climat traversent le centre‑ville.

Changes:

• une → de before a plural adjective + noun: de grandes manifestations
• manifestation → manifestations
• traverse (3rd person singular) → traversent (3rd person plural)