📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 1 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 1 · La mise en relief
C'est... qui, c'est... que
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 1 of 30: English says I saw HIM yesterday and lets the voice do the work. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 1.
The words
French
English
Say it
c'est lui que j'ai vu
he is the one I saw
seh lwee kuh zhay VEW
c'est moi qui suis responsable
I am the one who is responsible
seh mwah kee swee rehs-poh(n)-SAHBL
la mise en relief
the highlighting
lah meez ah(n) ruh-LYEHF
mettre en valeur
to bring out
mehtr ah(n) vah-LUHR
la voix qui insiste
the stressing voice
lah vwah kee a(n)-SEEST
reconstruire
to rebuild
ruh-koh(n)-STRWEER
l'accord du verbemasculine — the article elides to l'
the verb agreement
lah-kor dew VEHRB
responsable
responsible
rehs-poh(n)-SAHBL
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.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
English says I saw HIM yesterday and lets the voice do the work. French will not: it rebuilds the sentence. C'est lui que j'ai vu hier. C'est hier que je l'ai vu. C'est moi qui l'ai vu.
Et aussi · And also
Qui when the highlighted part is the subject, que for everything else. And note the verb after qui agrees with the person: c'est moi qui SUIS responsable, not qui est.
Attention · Watch out
c'est moi qui SUIS responsable: after c'est... qui the verb agrees with the person, never qui est. qui for a highlighted subject, que for everything else.
être — the table
je suis · tu es · il/elle est · nous sommes · vous êtes · ils/elles sont
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with c'est lui que j'ai vu.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out être in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
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.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.