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Ce semestre, Paul suit deux nouvelles matières dans un grand amphithéâtre.

Ce semestre, Paul suit deux nouvelles matières dans un grand amphithéâtre.
This semester, Paul is taking two new subjects in a large lecture hall.
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Questions & Answers about Ce semestre, Paul suit deux nouvelles matières dans un grand amphithéâtre.

Why is it ce semestre and not cet semestre or cette semestre?

French demonstrative adjectives change form depending on the noun.

  • ce
    • masculine singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: ce semestre
  • cet
    • masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel or mute h: cet été
  • cette
    • feminine singular noun: cette année

Since semestre is masculine and starts with s, the correct form is ce.

Why is there no preposition before ce semestre? Why not something like dans ce semestre?

French often uses time expressions directly, without a preposition, especially at the start of a sentence.

So Ce semestre works like:

  • This semester
  • This year
  • This morning

Other examples:

  • Cette année, il travaille beaucoup.
  • Ce matin, elle est partie tôt.

Using dans ce semestre would not sound natural here. You could sometimes say pendant ce semestre, but that has a slightly different feel: during this semester.

What does suit mean here? Does it literally mean follows?

It comes from the verb suivre, which literally can mean to follow, but in school or university contexts it often means:

  • to take
  • to attend
  • to study

So here Paul suit deux nouvelles matières means Paul is taking or attending two new subjects. This is a very common educational use of suivre.

What tense is suit?

Suit is the present tense, third person singular, of suivre.

The verb is irregular:

  • je suis
  • tu suis
  • il/elle/on suit
  • nous suivons
  • vous suivez
  • ils/elles suivent

In this sentence, Paul suit means Paul takes / is taking in a general present-time sense. French uses the simple present in many cases where English might use either takes or is taking.

Why is it deux nouvelles matières? Why does nouvelles have an -s?

Because nouvelles agrees with matières.

  • matière is feminine singular
  • matières is feminine plural
  • so the adjective must also be feminine plural: nouvelles

That is why you get:

  • une nouvelle matière
  • deux nouvelles matières

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

Why does nouvelles come before matières? I thought French adjectives usually come after the noun.

That is a very common question. It is true that many French adjectives come after the noun, but some common adjectives often come before it. Nouveau / nouvelle is one of them.

So:

  • une nouvelle matière
  • deux nouvelles matières

This is normal French word order. A useful rough rule is that short, common adjectives like beau, grand, petit, jeune, vieux, nouveau often come before the noun.

What exactly does matières mean here? Is it the same as cours?

Not exactly.

  • matière usually means a subject or academic discipline
  • cours usually means a class, lesson, or sometimes a course

So:

  • deux nouvelles matières = two new subjects
  • deux nouveaux cours could mean two new classes/courses

In everyday student talk, people may sometimes use cours more often, but matières is perfectly natural when talking about school subjects.

Why is there no article before deux nouvelles matières?

Because the number deux already determines the noun.

In French, numbers normally come directly before the noun:

  • deux matières
  • trois étudiants
  • quatre livres

You do not add des before the noun when a number is already there.

So:

  • deux nouvelles matières = correct
  • des deux nouvelles matières would mean something different, more like of the two new subjects or the two new subjects, depending on context
What does amphithéâtre mean in this sentence? Is it literally an amphitheater?

In a university context, un amphithéâtre usually means a large lecture hall, often with tiered seating.

So it does not necessarily mean an ancient open-air amphitheater. In modern academic French, it often refers to a big room where many students attend lectures.

Why is it un grand amphithéâtre?

Because amphithéâtre is a masculine singular noun, so the article and adjective must match it:

  • un = masculine singular indefinite article
  • grand = masculine singular adjective

Compare:

  • un grand amphithéâtre
  • une grande salle

Notice how grand becomes grande with a feminine noun.

Why is the preposition dans used before un grand amphithéâtre?

Dans means in or inside, so it is used to place the action within a physical space.

Here it tells you where Paul is taking those subjects: in a large lecture hall.

French often uses:

  • dans for being inside a place
  • à for being at an institution or location more generally

For example:

  • Il étudie à l’université. = He studies at the university.
  • Il a cours dans un amphithéâtre. = He has class in a lecture hall.
Why is Ce semestre placed at the beginning of the sentence?

French often puts time expressions at the beginning to set the scene.

So Ce semestre, Paul suit... is very natural and means something like As for this semester...

You could also say:

  • Paul suit deux nouvelles matières ce semestre.

That is also grammatical. Putting Ce semestre first gives it a little more emphasis. The comma is common when that time phrase is fronted.