C’est means "it is / this is" and it turns every noun you know into a sentence: C’est un livre. C’est la porte. Ask what something is with Qu’est-ce que c’est ? — the single most useful learner question, because every answer teaches you a new word.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| C’est… | It is… / This is… | seh |
| Qu’est-ce que c’est ? | What is it? | kess kuh SEH |
| C’est un stylo.the t of est links into un | It is a pen. | seh tuh(n) stee-LOH |
| C’est une chaise. | It is a chair. | seh tewn SHEHZ |
| Voilà ! | There it is! / There you go! | vwah-LAH |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
C’est + un/une + noun is a complete, correct French sentence. Walk through the Lesson 8 list: C’est un livre. C’est une porte. Ten sentences, each one true of the room you are in.
Before un or une, c’est runs on: seh-TUH(n), seh-TEWN. French loves joining words this way (liaison) — copy the respelling and it happens on its own.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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