Learn Hardcore French: Je trouve que l'art est important.

In normal, natural English, it’s usually translated as “I think that …” or sometimes “I feel that …”, because in French trouver can mean not only “to find” physically, but also “to find (something) to be [like this]”, i.e. “to think / consider / judge”.

So:

Je trouve que l’art est important.
→ “I think (that) art is important.”
(Literal: “I find that art is important.”)

What is the difference between Je trouve que and Je pense que?

Both introduce an opinion and both are very common.

Je pense que l’art est important.
→ “I think (that) art is important.”
Je trouve que l’art est important.
→ “I think / I feel / I find that art is important.”

Nuance:

Je pense que is a bit more neutral and purely intellectual: “my opinion is…”.
Je trouve que often sounds slightly more personal or subjective, as if you’re judging or evaluating something based on your feelings or experience.

In everyday speech, they are often interchangeable, and most of the time you won’t create a big difference in meaning by choosing one or the other.

Why is it Je trouve que l’art est important and not Je trouve l’art est important?

In French, que is required to introduce a full clause (with its own subject and verb) after many verbs of opinion or declaration.

Structure here is:

Je trouve que
- l’art est important.
  (“I think that + art is important.”)

You cannot directly follow Je trouve with another finite verb est without que. So:

✅ Je trouve que l’art est important.
❌ Je trouve l’art est important. (ungrammatical)

However, there is another correct pattern:

✅ Je trouve l’art important.
Here l’art is the object of trouve, and important is an adjective directly describing it. This is more like: “I find/consider art (to be) important.”

What is the difference between Je trouve que l’art est important and Je trouve l’art important?

Both are correct and close in meaning, but the structures differ slightly:

Je trouve que l’art est important.
- Structure: Je trouve que
  - full sentence (l’art est important).
- Very common pattern for giving opinions; feels very natural and conversational.
Je trouve l’art important.
- Structure: Je trouve + [direct object] + [adjective].
- Slightly more concise and maybe a bit more “evaluative,” like saying “I judge/consider art important.”

In everyday conversation, Je trouve que l’art est important is probably more frequent, but both are fine.

Why is it l’art and not just art without an article, like in English?

French almost always needs an article (like le, la, l’, les) in front of a noun used in a general sense.

In English you can say:

“Art is important.” (no article)

In French, to talk about art in general, you use the definite article:

L’art est important. → “Art is important.”

So:

✅ Je trouve que l’art est important.
❌ Je trouve que art est important. (missing article)

This use of le / la / l’ / les for general statements (about concepts, categories, or things in general) is very typical in French.

Why is it l’art and not le art?

The noun art is masculine, so its basic article is le: le art in theory.

But when le comes before a word that starts with a vowel sound (or a silent h), French elides the vowel to make pronunciation smoother:

le
- art → l’art
The e in le disappears and becomes an apostrophe.

This is the same pattern as:

le ami → l’ami (the friend, masc.)
la école → l’école (the school)

So l’art is just the elided form of le art.

Why is it que and not qui in Je trouve que l’art est important?

Here, que is a conjunction meaning “that” introducing a subordinate clause after a verb of opinion (trouver).

Je trouve que = “I think that / I find that”

Qui is usually a relative pronoun meaning “who / which / that” in sentences like:

La personne qui parle. → “The person who is speaking.”
Le livre qui est sur la table. → “The book that is on the table.”

In Je trouve que l’art est important, we’re not saying “I find art, which is important…”; we’re saying “I think that art is important.” So we need the conjunction que, not qui.

Why is it est important and not important est?

French basic sentence order for “X is Y” is:

subject + verb (être) + adjective/noun

So:

L’art est important. → Subject: l’art, verb: est, adjective: important.

Putting the adjective before est (like important est) does not work in standard French.

Compare:

✅ L’art est important.
❌ Important est l’art. (only used in very poetic or archaic style)

Why is the adjective important and not importante?

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

l’art is masculine singular, so the adjective must also be masculine singular: important.

Other forms:

Feminine singular: importante
- La musique est importante. (Music is important.)
Masculine plural: importants
- Les arts sont importants. (The arts are important.)
Feminine plural: importantes
- Les choses sont importantes. (The things are important.)

In the sentence Je trouve que l’art est important, the noun is masculine singular, so important (no final e, no s) is correct.

Should Je trouve que l’art est important use the subjunctive? Why not … que l’art soit important?

In modern French, verbs of opinion like penser, croire, trouver normally take the indicative (here: est) when they are:

affirmative statements of someone’s opinion.

So:

Je trouve que l’art est important. ✅
(Indicative est is expected.)

The subjunctive often appears after these verbs when they are negative or interrogative, because then the truth of the statement is uncertain or doubted:

Je ne trouve pas que l’art soit important.
→ “I don’t find/think that art is important.” (subjunctive soit)
Trouves‑tu que l’art soit important ?
→ “Do you find/think that art is important?” (subjunctive soit, more formal; many speakers also say est here in everyday speech.)

So your sentence is affirmative, so est (indicative) is the normal, correct choice.

How would Je trouve que l’art est important be pronounced, especially the linking between words?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):

Je trouve que l’art est important
→ /ʒə tʁuv kə laʁ ɛt‿ɛ̃pɔʁtɑ̃/

Key points:

Je → /ʒə/ (the e is a “schwa” sound, like a very short “uh”)
trouve → /tʁuv/ (final e is silent; you hear trouv)
que → /kə/ (again a short “uh” sound)
l’art → /laʁ/ (the t in art is silent)
l’art est → there is a liaison: /laʁ ɛt‿/
The normally silent t of est is pronounced and links to the next word, sounding like “t” glued to important: est important → /ɛt‿ɛ̃pɔʁtɑ̃/.
important → /ɛ̃pɔʁtɑ̃/ (the an at the end is a nasal vowel; final t is silent)

Smoother, the middle of the sentence often sounds like: “kə lar ɛtɛ̃pɔʁtɑ̃”.

Could I say Pour moi, l’art est important instead of Je trouve que l’art est important?

Yes, absolutely.

Pour moi, l’art est important.
→ “For me, art is important.” / “In my opinion, art is important.”

This also clearly marks it as your personal view. Nuance:

Je trouve que l’art est important.
Emphasizes “I think / I find that…”
Pour moi, l’art est important.
Emphasizes that this is your perspective, possibly acknowledging that others might disagree.

They’re both very natural ways to give an opinion.

Is Je trouve que l’art c’est important correct?

You might hear Je trouve que l’art, c’est important in casual spoken French, but it’s a bit redundant and less standard as a single smooth sentence.

The “most correct” and neutral version is:
- Je trouve que l’art est important. ✅

Adding c’est gives you this structure:

Je trouve que l’art, c’est important.
This is more like: “I think that art—it’s important.” It sounds like you start a clause (Je trouve que l’art…) and then restate it with c’est important. It’s conversational and emphatic, but not ideal as a clean, textbook sentence.

For writing and careful speech, stick with:

Je trouve que l’art est important.