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Cette rue piétonne est calme le soir.

Cette rue piétonne est calme le soir.
This pedestrian street is calm in the evening.
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Questions & Answers about Cette rue piétonne est calme le soir.

Why do we use cette and not ce or cet in this sentence?

Cette is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative adjective ce (“this/that”).

  • ce = masculine singular before a consonant (e.g. ce livre)
  • cet = masculine singular before a vowel or mute h (e.g. cet arbre)
  • cette = feminine singular (e.g. cette rue)
  • ces = plural for both genders (e.g. ces rues)

Because rue is a feminine noun, you must use cette.

How do I know that rue is feminine?

Unfortunately, grammatical gender in French is mostly something you have to memorize with each noun.

  • rue happens to be feminine, so you say:
    • la rue, une rue, cette rue
  • There are some patterns (e.g. many nouns ending in ‑tion, ‑ette, ‑ure are feminine), but rue just has to be learned.

A good habit is to always learn new vocabulary with its article:

  • Not just rue, but la rue.
What is piétonne exactly? Is it an adjective or a noun?

In this sentence, piétonne is an adjective meaning “pedestrian (only)”.

  • The basic noun is un piéton = a pedestrian (masculine).
  • The adjective forms are:
    • masculine: piéton (e.g. un quartier piéton)
    • feminine: piétonne (e.g. une rue piétonne)

It agrees in gender and number with the noun rue:

  • une rue piétonne (feminine singular)
  • des rues piétonnes (feminine plural)
Why does piétonne come after rue, not before it?

Most French adjectives normally come after the noun:

  • une rue piétonne
  • un livre intéressant
  • une maison ancienne

Some very common and short adjectives come before the noun (often remembered as the BANGS or BAGS group: beauty, age, number, goodness, size), e.g.:

  • une grande rue
  • une belle rue

But piéton(ne) is not one of these; it goes after the noun, so une rue piétonne is the natural order.

Why is it est calme and not something like fait calme?

To describe a permanent or typical quality, French usually uses être with an adjective:

  • Cette rue piétonne est calme.
    (This pedestrian street is calm / quiet.)

Il fait calme can exist, but it’s restricted and sounds more like a neutral description of the general atmosphere, often used impersonally (il without a clear subject) and much less commonly than être calme to describe a specific street.

For a specific place or person:

  • Prefer être + adjective: La rue est calme.
What is the nuance of calme here? Is it “quiet” or “calm”? How is it different from silencieux or tranquille?

Calme is flexible; it can mean:

  • quiet (not much noise)
  • calm/peaceful (not much activity or agitation)

In this context, it suggests both “not noisy” and “peaceful”.

Compared to similar adjectives:

  • silencieux / silencieuse
    Focuses more strictly on lack of sound: “silent”.
  • tranquille
    Close to calme, often “peaceful, undisturbed, not bothered”.

So:

  • Cette rue est calme le soir.
    Neutral, natural way to say it’s a quiet, peaceful street in the evening.
  • Cette rue est silencieuse le soir.
    Emphasizes the silence; can sound more literary or a bit stronger.
Why do we say le soir and not just soir or something like dans le soir?

Le soir is a very common way to mean “in the evening / evenings” in a general or habitual sense.

  • le soir = in the evenings / at nightfall (habitually, generally)
  • You must have the article; you can’t say just soir here.

Some contrasts:

  • le soir
    Habitual or general:
    Cette rue piétonne est calme le soir.
    (In the evenings, this street is calm.)
  • ce soir
    “this evening” (specific):
    Cette rue est calme ce soir.
  • dans la soirée
    “during the evening” (within the time span of this evening), a bit more precise in time.

Dans le soir is not idiomatic in this sense.

Does le soir here mean “every evening” or just “one particular evening”?

With the definite article le in a time expression, it usually indicates a general, habitual situation:

  • le soir = in the evening(s) in general, typically, usually.

So the sentence suggests:

  • “This pedestrian street tends to be quiet in the evenings,”
    not “on one specific evening.”
How would the sentence change in the plural, if I want to say “These pedestrian streets are quiet in the evening”?

You need to make the demonstrative, the noun, the adjective, and the verb all agree in the plural:

  • Ces rues piétonnes sont calmes le soir.

Changes:

  • cette → ces (feminine plural)
  • rue → rues
  • piétonne → piétonnes
  • est → sont
  • (optionally) calme → calmes
    Spoken French sounds the same, but in writing the plural ‑s is added.
How would I say the negative, like “This pedestrian street is not quiet in the evening”?

You wrap the verb être with ne … pas:

  • Cette rue piétonne n’est pas calme le soir.

Structure:

  • ne (or n’ before a vowel sound) + est
    • pas
      Around the verb être.

In casual spoken French, many people drop ne:

  • Cette rue piétonne est pas calme le soir. (informal, spoken)
Are there any important pronunciation points in this sentence?

Yes, a few key ones:

  • cette:
    [set] (short e, like “set” in English).
  • rue:
    The French u is rounded and front; it’s not like English “oo” or “ee”. Lips rounded, tongue forward: [ʁy].
  • piétonne:
    • pié = [pje] (like “pyeh”)
    • tonne = [tɔn] (close to “ton” in “tonne” English)
      Whole word: [pje.tɔn].
  • est calme:
    No liaison: you don’t link est and calme. Pronounce as [ɛ kalm].
  • le soir:
    • soir has the [sw] sound at the start, then [aʁ] (French r at the back of the throat).
      Roughly [lə swaʁ].

Saying the whole sentence smoothly:

  • Cette rue piétonne est calme le soir.
    → [sɛt ʁy pje.tɔn ɛ kalm lə swaʁ].