Breakdown of Ce gâteau est bon, mais il est trop sucré.
Questions & Answers about Ce gâteau est bon, mais il est trop sucré.
Why is it ce gâteau and not cet gâteau or cette gâteau?
How do I know that gâteau is masculine?
Why are bon and sucré written without extra endings?
Why is il used in the second part instead of repeating ce gâteau?
Why is it il est and not ce est?
After introducing the noun ce gâteau, French normally uses the regular pronoun il to refer back to it.
- ce is a demonstrative determiner here, used before the noun: ce gâteau
- il is a subject pronoun, used instead of repeating the noun
Also, ce est is not the normal form in French. Before est, ce becomes c’, which gives c’est.
Could I say C’est bon, mais c’est trop sucré instead?
What exactly does trop mean here?
Why do bon and sucré come after est?
Because they are predicate adjectives. They describe the subject through the verb être.
Structure:
- subject + être
- adjective
So:
This is similar to English:
- This cake is good
- it is too sweet
The adjectives are not directly placed next to the noun here; they come after the verb est.
Why is there a comma before mais?
How is Ce gâteau est bon, mais il est trop sucré pronounced?
A natural approximate pronunciation is:
suh gah-toh eh bohn, meh eel eh troh soo-kray
A few useful notes:
- Ce sounds roughly like suh
- gâteau sounds like gah-toh
- est is usually pronounced like eh
- bon has a nasal vowel, so the n is not fully pronounced like an English n
- mais sounds like meh
- trop sounds like troh
- sucré sounds like soo-kray
In careful speech, some speakers may make a liaison in places, but for a learner, the version above is a good starting point.
Is sucré always used for sweet foods, or can it mean sugary?
Can I replace bon with another adjective?
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