Can "ce" be used personally in informal use?

I know that informally “ce” can be used in place of “il” in impersonal use, so we can say “C'est difficile d'apprendre une langue étrangère” instead of “Il est difficile d'apprendre une langue étrangère”. My question is, can “ce” be used informally in place of “il/elle” in personal use? So that instead of “Il est où, mon livre?” can we say “C'est où, mon livre?” or instead of “Elle est où, la gare?” can we say “C'est où, la gare?”

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 1, 2015 at 1:17am

I am pretty sure that is OK -and that it is informal.

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Permalink Reply by Vedas on February 1, 2015 at 2:03pm

C'est où, mon livre? sounds weird

ce/ c' is fine in a general context but having the possessive pronoun "mon" is quite problematic, "c'est où " implies that the speaker has no knowledge of something or no relation whatsoever with the object in question, there must be a distance between the object of inquiry and the speaker otherwise one could infer that the speaker might have some conscience or schizophrenia issues.

on the other hand we could have a sentence like this:

c'est où que tu as mis mon livre?

c'est où ma voiture ?: c'est où que tu as garé ma voiture? elle est où ma voiture?

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Permalink Reply by Vedas on February 1, 2015 at 2:35pm

sorry I had to interrupt my explanation:

and most important:

"c'est où" calls for a location and "le livre" is not a location!

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Key StudentPermalink Reply by Curt Jugg on February 1, 2015 at 6:53pm

Thanks, Vedas, but I'm not sure I understand. Would the location not be provided by the answer to the question? "C'est où, le livre? C'est sur la table." or "C'est où, la gare? C'est près d'ici."

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Permalink Reply by Vedas on February 1, 2015 at 7:23pm

Hello,

"la gare" is a place "le livre" is not

c'est où l'aéroport? ok

c'est où le jardin? ok

c'est où le chat? not probable unless once again we're talking about a specific cat or situation.

c'est où le livre? might work in a specific context, it should be a special book.

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Key StudentPermalink Reply by Curt Jugg on February 1, 2015 at 7:30pm

So does that mean that if I am describing the location of a place I should use "C'est" but if I am describing the location of an object I should use "Il/elle est"? And if "C'est" is usual for describing the location of a place would "Il/elle" still be an acceptable alternative?

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Permalink Reply by Vedas on February 1, 2015 at 7:35pm

yes it would be wise to stick to this rule of thumb.

But in both cases you can use il/ est où...?

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Key StudentPermalink Reply by Curt Jugg on February 1, 2015 at 7:44pm

Many thanks indeed, Vedas. I looked everywhere to find the answer to this question without success. You have explained it for me.