Language/French/Grammar/Subject-verb-agreement-—-Verb-“être”

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Subject-verb agreement — verb “être”

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Definitions

Subject-verb agreement

The agreement in French (the agreement) is the way to choose the correct ending for verbs in terms of grammatical persons, gender and number, depending on their subject.


Subject-verb Agreement with "être"

  • Mon problème était mes enfants, car je n'avais personne pour les garder

My problem was my children, for I had no-one to look after them


"C'est" or "Ce sont"

When "ce" is the subject of "être", there is a choice between using "c'est" or "ce sont".


Whereas most nouns and pronouns follow "c'est", as in the examples below:

  • C'est moi/nous (not "Ce sont nous/vous")

It's me/us/you/him/her

  • C'est le facteur

It's the postman


In written French, plural nouns and plural pronouns in the third person are meant to follow "ce sont":

  • Ce sont mes parents

It's my parents

  • Ce sont eux

It's them


However, most speakers use "c'est" in these days, as in the examples below:

  • C'est mes parents

It's my parents

  • C'est eux

It's them


Where numbers are involved, "c'est" is always used:

  • C'est 2 000 euros que je te dois

It's 2,000 euros that I owe you


The c'est/ce sont construction is often used with relative clauses, and it is important to remember that the verb in the relative clause agrees in person and number with the complement of c'est/ce sont:

  • C'est moi qui suis le moins grand

It's me who's the smallest

  • C'est nous qui sommes les demandeurs

We are the ones applicants

  • C'est vous qui avez pris mes lunettes

It's you who has taken my glasses

  • Ce sont elles qui sont parties

They are the ones who left


More information on the difference between "c'est" and "ce sont":

https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/French/Grammar/%22C%27est%22-or-%22Ce-sont%22

Sources

Other Chapters

Table of Contents

Nouns


Determiners


Personal and impersonal pronouns


Adjectives


Adverbs


Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers


Verb forms


Verb constructions


Verb and participle agreement


Tense


The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives


The infinitive


Prepositions


Question formation


Relative clauses


Negation


Conjunctions and other linking constructions

Contributors

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