{"id":489,"date":"2022-09-25T11:12:13","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T11:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/declansoftware.com\/blog\/?p=489"},"modified":"2022-11-22T03:16:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T03:16:28","slug":"what-is-quest-ce-que-cest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.declansoftware.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/what-is-quest-ce-que-cest\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Qu’est-ce que c’est?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Qu'est-ce<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Qu’est-ce que c’est \u00ab<\/em> Qu’est-ce que c’est \u00bb<\/em> ?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The very commonly used French phrase Qu’est-ce que c’est ?<\/em><\/strong> is the contorted way in which the circumlocutory French ask ‘What is it?’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or as the French would say ‘What is that which it is?’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s break it down into its six contingent words and take a closer look: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1.) Qu<\/strong>‘ + (2.) est<\/strong> + (3.) ce<\/strong> + (4.) que<\/strong> + (5.) c<\/strong>‘ + (6.) est<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Qu’<\/em><\/strong> is an abbreviation of the interrogative pronoun que<\/em><\/strong> meaning ‘what’.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. est<\/em><\/strong> is a conjugation of the verb ‘to be’ – in this case ‘is’.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. ce<\/em><\/strong> is a demonstrative adjective meaning ‘it’ or ‘that’.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. que<\/em><\/strong> is the relative pronoun. also mean ‘that’ or ‘which’. Taken together ce<\/em> que<\/em><\/strong> is an indefinite relative pronoun and means something like ‘that which’.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. c<\/strong>‘ is an abbreviation of ce<\/em><\/strong> which as we saw means ‘it’ or ‘that’.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. And also once again est<\/em><\/strong> is a conjugation of the verb ‘to be’ – in this case ‘is’.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So reassembling we have ‘what’ + ‘is’ + ‘it’ + ‘that which’ + ‘it’ + ‘is’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And now we know what it is. Or to put it in a way the French might: Nous savons ce qu’est \u00ab Qu’est-ce que c’est \u00bb !<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u00c7a y est !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Oh – and here is how it is pronounced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n