French note 4
Today I am preparing a note on the structure ,
" c'est ........que + a subordinate clause
This structure will be useful when you want to stress the complement of a verb. Observe the following sentences.
Je connais le président de cette société .
I know the president of this company.
C'est le président de cette société que je connais.
It is the president of this company whom I know.
In this case , " le président " is the direct object complement of verb , " Connais" . It is emphasized or stressed by use of " c' est.
Elle aime Thomas.
She loves Thomas.
C'est Thomas qu'elle aime.
It is Thomas whom she loves.
Martin m'a donné tous ses livres.
Martin gave me all his books.
C'est à moi que Martin a donné tous ses livres.
It is to me that Martin gave all his books.
In the above the indirect object complement " me " is stressed. Note the preposition , " à".and use of tonic pronom " moi".
C'est tous ses livres que Martin m'a donnés .
These are all his books that Martin gave me.
In the above, the direct object complement , " tous ses livres" is stressed.
Elle sort avec Gérard .
She goes out with Gerard.
C'est avec Gérard qu'elle sort.
It is with Gerard that she goes out.
Je compte sur ma sœur pour résoudre ce problème .
I count on my sister for resolving this problem.
C'est sur ma sœur que je compte pour résoudre ce problème .
It is on my sister that I count for resolving this problem.
Elle n'habite pas ici.
She does not live here.
Ce n'est pas ici qu'elle habite.
It is not here that she lives.
In the above, the complement of place " Ici " is stressed .
Je suis allé à Delhi la semaine dernière .
I went to Delhi last week.
C'est la semaine dernière que je suis allé à Delhi.
It is last week that I went to Delhi.
In the above, the complement of time, " la semaine dernière " is stressed.
Il leur vendra sa voiture.
He will sell his car to them.
C'est à eux qu'il vendra sa voiture.
It is to them that he will sell his car.
In thé above, the pronom objet indirect , " leur " is stressed. In that case , it should be written as , " à eux " . It means , " to them ".
Elle travaille dur pour vous.
She is working hard for you.
C'est pour vous qu'elle travaille dur.
It is for you that she is working hard.
Le père se met en colère parce qu'il ne veut pas reconnaître son tort.
The father gets angry because he does not want to accept his mistake.
C'est parce qu'il ne veut pas reconnaître son tort que le père se met en colère .
It is because that he does not want to accept his mistake, the father gets angry.
Vous devez préparer bien avant de vous présenter pour un examen .
You must prepare well before appearing for an examination .
C'est avant de vous présenter pour un examen, vous devez préparer bien.
It is before preparing for an examination that you must prepare well.
In the last two examples the entire subordinate clause of the original sentence is stressed.
Explanation
Please note in all the above examples , the first sentence is re-written using , " c'est " followed sometimes by a preposition and a complement of the verb and " que" which in turn is followed by a clause. These sentences emphasize the complements which can be
1. Preposition + noun
2.adverbe
3. Preposition + pronoun
4. A proposition or a subordinate clause.
Hope you understood.
Practise by making as many sentences of your own as possible.
Happy learning !
Bonne journée
Sayee Jayaraman
01/01/2015
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