Ce sont les frais bancaires.

Because les frais bancaires is plural.

In standard French:

• c'est is used before a singular noun phrase: C'est le problème.
• ce sont is used before a plural noun phrase: Ce sont les documents.

So here, since les frais bancaires is plural, ce sont is the grammatically standard choice.

A useful extra note: in everyday spoken French, many native speakers do say c'est before plurals, but learners should normally aim for ce sont in careful French.

Here, ce is a demonstrative pronoun used to identify or point something out.

It works a bit like English this, that, or sometimes just the it/they used in identifying sentences:

• C'est Marie.
• Ce sont mes clés.

So in Ce sont les frais bancaires, ce is not masculine or feminine in the usual sense. It is just the form French uses for this kind of identification. The number is shown by the verb:

• c'est = singular
• ce sont = plural

Les is the definite article, so it refers to specific bank charges, not just any bank charges.

• Ce sont les frais bancaires = these are the bank charges / these are the bank fees
• Ce sont des frais bancaires = these are some bank charges / these are bank charges

So les is used when the charges are already known, visible, or understood from the context.

In French, les frais is very commonly used in the plural to mean fees, charges, costs, or expenses.

That is especially common in practical contexts such as:

• les frais bancaires = bank charges
• les frais de livraison = delivery charges
• les frais de dossier = admin/application fees

So even if English might sometimes use a singular idea like the cost, French often uses plural frais for this kind of expense language.

No. Here, frais is a noun meaning fees/charges/costs.

French also has an adjective frais / fraîche, which means fresh or cool, but that is a different use.

Compare:

• des produits frais = fresh products
• les frais bancaires = bank charges

So the same spelling can have different meanings depending on grammar and context.

Because bancaires is an adjective agreeing with the plural noun frais.

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

• singular: un compte bancaire = a bank account
• plural: des frais bancaires = bank charges

Here:

• frais is plural
• so bancaire becomes bancaires

Because many French adjectives normally come after the noun, and bancaire is one of them.

So French says:

• des frais bancaires
• literally, fees banking-related

This is very normal in French. English often puts adjectives before the noun, but French often places them after it.

In formal or standard French, Ce sont les frais bancaires is the correct form.

However, in casual spoken French, many native speakers say C'est les frais bancaires. So:

• Ce sont les frais bancaires = better for learners, writing, and careful speech
• C'est les frais bancaires = common in informal conversation

If you are learning, it is safest to use ce sont with plural noun phrases like this one.

A careful pronunciation is roughly:

suh son lay fray bon-kair

A few useful points:

• ce is often pronounced like suh
• sont has a nasal vowel; the final -nt is silent
• les sounds like lay
• frais sounds like fray; the final -s is silent
• bancaires sounds roughly like bon-kair; the final -s is silent

So the whole sentence flows smoothly as:

Ce sont les frais bancaires → suh son lay fray bon-kair