Log inSign up

Ce jeune voisin aime la musique.

Ce jeune voisin aime la musique.
This young neighbor likes music.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching French grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning French now

Questions & Answers about Ce jeune voisin aime la musique.

In Ce jeune voisin aime la musique, what exactly does ce mean, and why is it ce and not cet or cette?

Ce here is a demonstrative adjective meaning this or that (as in this young neighbor / that young neighbor).

French has four basic forms:

  • ce = masculine singular before a consonant sound (ce voisin)
  • cet = masculine singular before a vowel or mute h (cet homme, cet ami)
  • cette = feminine singular (cette voisine)
  • ces = plural for both genders (ces voisins, ces voisines)

Because voisin is masculine, singular, and starts with a consonant sound (v), you must use ce.

Why is jeune placed before voisin? In English we say young neighbor, but I thought most French adjectives come after the noun.

Most French adjectives do come after the noun, but an important group usually comes before. A common memory trick is BANGS (or Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size):

  • Beauty: beau, joli
  • Age: jeune, vieux, nouveau, ancien (in some meanings)
  • Number: premier, deuxième, plusieurs, etc.
  • Goodness: bon, mauvais, meilleur
  • Size: grand, petit, gros, long, etc.

Because jeune is an age adjective, it normally goes before the noun:

  • un jeune voisin = a young neighbor

So Ce jeune voisin follows the typical pattern: demonstrative (ce) + adjective (jeune) + noun (voisin).

Could I say Ce voisin jeune aime la musique instead of Ce jeune voisin aime la musique?

You could say Ce voisin jeune, but it sounds unusual and a bit marked.

In French, placing an adjective after the noun often makes it:

  • more descriptive/contrastive, or
  • sound like you’re classifying or distinguishing that noun from others.

So:

  • Ce jeune voisin = neutral, natural way: this young neighbor
  • Ce voisin jeune = sounds like you’re insisting on the fact that this neighbor (as opposed to others) is young or using jeune almost like a label.

For everyday speech, Ce jeune voisin is the normal, idiomatic choice.

What is the gender and number of voisin, and how would it change for a female neighbor or for several neighbors?

In this sentence, voisin is:

  • masculine
  • singular

Forms of voisin:

  • Masculine singular: un voisin (ce voisin)
  • Feminine singular: une voisine (cette voisine)
  • Masculine plural: des voisins (ces voisins)
  • Feminine plural: des voisines (ces voisines)

So you could say:

  • Cette jeune voisine aime la musique. = This young (female) neighbor likes music.
  • Ces jeunes voisins aiment la musique. = These young neighbors like music.
Why is the verb aime and not aimes, aiment, or aimer?

The infinitive is aimer = to like / to love. It has to be conjugated to agree with the subject.

Present tense of aimer (singular):

  • j’aime = I like
  • tu aimes = you like (informal singular)
  • il / elle / on aime = he / she / one likes

The subject in the sentence is Ce jeune voisin = he, so you need the 3rd person singular form: aime.

So:

  • Ce jeune voisin aime la musique.
  • Tu aimes la musique.
  • J’aime la musique.
Why do we say aime la musique and not just aime musique, like in English likes music?

In French, when you talk about likes/dislikes/preferences in general with verbs like aimer, adorer, détester, préférer, you almost always use the definite article (le, la, l’, les) before the noun:

  • J’aime la musique. = I like music.
  • Elle adore le chocolat. = She loves chocolate.
  • Nous détestons les araignées. = We hate spiders.

So aime la musique literally is likes the music, but in this structure it means likes music in general.
Saying aime musique without an article is incorrect in standard French.

What is the difference between la musique and de la musique? When would I use each?

Both are correct French, but they don’t mean the same thing:

  1. la musique (definite article):

    • used for general statements about music as a concept:
    • J’aime la musique. = I like music (in general).
    • Il étudie la musique. = He studies music.

  2. de la musique (partitive article):

    • used when you mean some music, an unspecified quantity, or an activity:
    • J’écoute de la musique. = I’m listening to (some) music.
    • Ils font de la musique. = They make / play music.

So:

  • Ce jeune voisin aime la musique. = He likes music (as a general preference).
  • Ce jeune voisin écoute de la musique. = He listens to music.
Could I say Ce jeune voisin aime de la musique?

Normally, no—that sounds wrong or at least very odd in French.

  • With aimer, when you talk about what you like in general, French uses the definite article:
    • Il aime la musique. = He likes music.
    • Il aime le café. = He likes coffee.

Using de la after aimer would suggest something like “He likes some (amount of) music”, which is not how French expresses a general preference. You would instead change the verb if you want de la:

  • Il écoute de la musique.
  • Il joue de la musique.
How do I say this sentence in the plural: These young neighbors like music?

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

  • Ce → Ces (plural demonstrative)
  • jeune → jeunes (add -s; pronunciation stays the same)
  • voisin → voisins (add -s; final s is silent)
  • aime → aiment (add -nt; also silent in pronunciation)

So you get:

  • Ces jeunes voisins aiment la musique.

Spoken aloud, aime and aiment sound the same; the plural is shown in writing by the ending -ent.

Is there any difference between aimer la musique and adorer la musique?

Yes, it’s mostly about degree of liking:

  • aimer la musique = to like or love music (context decides how strong it is; in some contexts it can mean to love).
  • adorer la musique = to really love / adore music, stronger and more enthusiastic.

Examples:

  • Il aime la musique. = He likes music.
  • Il adore la musique. = He loves music (he’s really passionate about it).

Both are grammatically the same; only the intensity changes.

How is Ce jeune voisin aime la musique pronounced, and are there any liaisons?

Approximate pronunciation in IPA:
[sə ʒœn vwazɛ̃ ɛm la myzik]

Breakdown:

  • Ce → [sə]
  • jeune → [ʒœn]
  • voisin → [vwazɛ̃] (final n makes the vowel nasal, not a full n)
  • aime → [ɛm] (like English M in them, but without the th)
  • la → [la]
  • musique → [myzik] (final -e is silent; -que = [k])

Liaisons:

  • No liaison between jeune and voisin (you don’t link them).
  • No liaison between voisin and aime (the final n is already used to nasalize the vowel).
  • aime la is pronounced smoothly [ɛm la], but without an extra consonant.

So the rhythm is simply: Ce | jeune | voisin | aime | la | musique.