C'est or ce sont and adjectival agreements.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on October 24, 2012 at 9:05pm

J'aime les sciences et les maths, à mon avis c'est très utile (or) ce sont très utiles? (it could also  be "elles  sont tres utiles")

 

La musique?  C'est passionnant passionnante .

 

Les maths et les sciences sont intéressantes.  - I think that is correct ("les maths" is feminine I think)

 

I get a bit confused myself with  using "c'est" and "ce sont" so I don't feel comfortable explaining why I think it is that way

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Permalink Reply by Gridou on November 5, 2012 at 11:55pm

As said previously, "c'est" is the singular form and "ce sont" is the plural form. But you have to know that French people, even if it's not very correct, always use "c'est" when they are talking.

Ex: Ce sont mes chaussures. => correct sentence.

C'est mes chaussures. => oral sentence that can be used.

I just wanted to inform you, so you won't be surprised if you hear this grammar mistake. But I advise you to use the correct form if you are learning.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on November 6, 2012 at 12:48am

thanks.It is good to be reminded of the way people actually speak!

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Permalink Reply by Dinah38 on November 6, 2012 at 7:28am

When c'est is used in this colloquial way there is no adjectival agreement with the preceding noun. Eg la cuisine, c'est delicieux, but la cuisine est delicieuse so Deborah I'm not sure your explanation is correct. I think it's just colloquial French.

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Permalink Reply by Sunshine on September 27, 2014 at 11:00pm

if you had two nouns in your sentence would you still say c'est in this colloquial way

eg le pain et le fromage, c'est delicieux or would you use ce sont?

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on September 28, 2014 at 12:17am

I am sure you could say that :"le pain et le fromage, c'est delicieux" .It sounds fine to me.

By the way you wouldn't say "le pain et le fromage, ce sont delicieux" anyway as that would be incorrect.

You would reserve "ce sont " for sentences such as "le pain et le fromage, ce sont mes comestibles favoris" or

"le pain et le fromage, ce sont de delicieux achats"

-do you see "ce sont" has to be followed by a noun , not just an adjective) ?

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on September 28, 2014 at 2:25am

Incidentally, it's worth pointing out that there's a difference between:

- "Le pain et le fromage, c'est délicieux" = "Bread and cheese is (generally) delicious"

- "Le pain et le fromage sont délicieux" = "The bread and cheese (that we're currently eating) are delicious"

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Permalink Reply by Jan Loose on November 8, 2012 at 3:49pm

J'aime les sciences et les maths qui, à mon avis, sont très utiles.

Les maths et les sciences sont intéressantes.

La musique?  C'est passionnant.

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