"I put lemon in the sauce, so it is sour."
Translation:J'ai mis du citron dans la sauce, alors elle est acide.
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The English "put" in this sentence is ambiguous as to tense. I can be either present or past.
The english sentence should have been - I have put lemon .... Or is it my english not good enough. Would: Je mis du lemon du citron dans ....be incorrect?
The previous similar sentence marked me wrong for using "elle" instead of Ce. can anyone explain please?
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In this sentence, I think elle is correct because it refers to an unmodified adjective describing a specific thing rather than a situation.
If the adjective were modified by an adverb, or if there were a noun with it, you would say c'est.
- La sauce, elle est acide.
- La sauce, c'est trop acide.
- C'est une sauce acide.
It's a very complex and confusing situation. A native speaker would know at a glance which is correct, but we have to think about it and we often get it wrong.
This link is not totally clear, because il/Elle est can refer to a specific thing as well as a specific person: https://www.thoughtco.com/french-expressions-cest-vs-il-est-4083779
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I copied the answer to this from another forum, so credit goes to whomever wrote it (sorry, I don't have the name, it was a good few days ago).
If an object of unknown gender is being discussed and the phrase starts "it is", use "c'est". If you know it's feminine, use "elle est".
(Not from the answer; if it's masculine use "il est" - I am assuming this to be the case! I remember that the phrase discussed at the time had a feminine subject.)