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French frequency list

No. 38 in French

c

The French word "c'" is a contraction of "ce," meaning "it" or "this" in English.

In a sentence

  • C'est un beau jour.

    It's a beautiful day.

    Here, 'C'' is used as a third-person neutral subject pronoun combined with the verb 'être' to denote 'it is'.

  • C'était difficile, mais je l'ai fait.

    It was difficult, but I did it.

    In this instance, 'C'' forms 'C'était', representing 'it was', combining with 'était' to indicate past tense.

  • C'est en essayant qu'on apprend.

    It's by trying that one learns.

    'C'' is used here to highlight a principle or fact generally applicable, equating to 'it is' in English for emphasis.

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