C’est vs Il/Elle est.. : It is, This is, He is
In general, c’est or ce sont are followed by a noun
☞ C’est une voiture française. It’s a French car
☞ C’est un livre. It’s a book.
☞ C’est Julien. It’s Julien.
Il/Elle est or Ils/Elles sont are followed by an adjective
☞ Il est gentil. He is nice.
☞ Elle est adorable. She is adorable.
Note :
- The plural of c’est is ce sont these are.
- The plural of il/elle est is ils/elles sont they are.
C’est is used:
– To identify or introduce a person or a thing.
☞ Qu’est-ce que c’est ? What is it?
☞ C’est un arbre exotique. It is an exotic tree (identifying something).
– To announce oneself (for example on the telephone).
☞ Allo, c’est Carole ! Hello, this is Carole!
☞ Est-ce que c’est Carole ? Is it Carole?
– To make a general statement.
☞ Les vacances, c’est bien ! Holidays, they’re great!
☞ Le travail, c’est difficile. Work, it’s difficult.
Note: If you have a possessive adjective such as mon, ma, mes, then you would always use c’est:
☞ C’est mon chien. It’s my dog; c’est ma voiture = it’s my car.
Il/elle est is used:
– To describe something or someone in particular.
☞ Carine ? Elle est grande, brune et intelligente. Carine? She is tall, brunette and intelligent.
☞ Il est sympathique, le professeur. He is nice, the teacher.
– When talking about someone’s profession, nationality, religion or family status. In this case, you don’t add an article (take out the un, une, des, le, la, les).
☞ Carla est informaticienne. Carla is a computer specialist.
☞ Elle est française. She is French.
☞ Elle est célibataire. She is single.
BUT you will add an article if you add a descriptive adjective, and in this case you will say:
☞ C’est une informaticienne intelligente. She is an intelligent computer specialist.
Note that we also use c’est for expressing the following:
☞ Oh, c’est bien ! Oh, that’s great!
Practice