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- "This is good."
"This is good."
Translation:C'est bon.
49 Comments
When the subject is not clearly defined (here: c'= ce) it is considered as masculine by default. I know, it is unfair....
Vous êtes exceptionel (exceptionelle??), Sitesurf. J'en profite de vous remercier pour tous vos appuis précieux linguistiques dans ce cours Duo du français! Lu.
Even if we know by the context (a previous sentence, for example) that we're talking about a feminine noun?
The replacement of a noun is made with a personal pronoun:
- (la chose) elle est bien = it is good
- (l'objet) il est bien = it is good.
This is good = C'est bien: this and c' are demonstrative pronouns and as I said before, ce/c' is always masculine by defaut, irrespective of the gender of the thing you are showing.
'Sitesurf' my account "French' on my PC ; has it been 'blocked' or 'banned' ? When I try to access it , It gives an erro message 'HTTP 404 ERROR' ?
I don't know what happened to your account. Have you misbehaved (posted irrelevant comments, offensive comments...)?
By the way, I can access your home page as usual.
Nope, it can mean both, depending on what you're talking about / what you mean.
Basically, "bon" is for
- FOOD / TASTE: "mmmh, this is good!" = "c'est BON!"
- SENSATION: "oooh, yeah, this is good!" = "oh ouaaaais, c'est BON!" (imagine whatever you want... :-))
- OPINION THAT CREATES A MMMH SENSATION: you listen to a new album, "wow, this is good!" = "waow, c'est bon!" ("c'est bien" would sound quite neutral, objective - but grammatically correct).
- CORRECT: "C'est bon, vous pouvez passer".
- colloquial to mean "it's enough!" : "OK, laisse-moi tranquille maintenant, c'est bon!" (OK, leave me alone now, it's enough).
You'd use "c'est bien" for other things / circumstances, generally with a more objective, neutral point of view:
- he gives to charities, oooh, that's good! = c'est bien (and NOT c'est bon)
- hey look, I've finished cleaning, what do you reckon? Is it good? = c'est bien?
I know you are a native speaker, and so I accept your superior knowledge. Still, my grammar knowledge tells me since "bien" is an adverb, it could be literally translated to "well". Of course its usage will vary as it does in English (you can say "I'm doing good" even though "I'm doing well" is grammatically more correct), but I'd like to know if "bien = well" in a more general sense. :)
If you like, and want a simplistic answer - it's just that if you stick with that idea, you're likely to make the mistake often, cause what I explained is not just a nuance or exception, but something that is used all the time, i.e 'bien' for 'good'.
But theoretically you're right, 'bien' is an adverb and its straightforward translation is 'well'. And thank you for acknowledging my superior knowledge in French grammar LOL, yet here it was not a question of grammar, I don't even know why it's like that - it's usage more than grammar...
Even the 'well' at the start of a sentence (eg 'Well thank you, I'm leaving now') can be 'Bon' (more common) or 'Bien' (bit more formal) in French...:-)
"I'm doing good" is in no way correct when you are referring to your condition. This calls for an adverb. If you mean to say that you are doing acts of goodness like charity works, then perhaps that may be accepted, notwithstanding the awkwardness of the phrase.
LOL. This is a great use of memorising verbally. I gave you a lingot for your exceptional acting skills...
When the subject is omitted, you should consider the subject masculine by default. Bonne = feminine, bon = masculine
Wouldn't "c'est bon" more specifically translate to "it's good", rather than "this is good"? Could I say "ceci/cela c'est bon"?
"c'est bon" translates "it is good" or "this/that is good".
This or that is good, though, can translate to variants: "ceci or cela est bon".
ceci/cela, c'est bon would probably be awkward or very insistent, with 2 demonstrative pronouns.
Ah, merci beaucoup. "Ceci/cela est bon" felt weird because of the consecutive vowels.
Is there anything wrong about "Ça, c'est bon" in this context? (From somewhere--if it's correct, it's from reading--I have the impression that French often uses apposition: the noun or pronoun, followed immediately by a restatement of it, for emphasis. Like the "Moi, j'ai ..." sort of sentence.) Please tell me if this is wrong! Grand merci (can I say that?).
It's absolutely correct, but has more emphasis than the usual "Moi, je...", "Nous, on..." or any noun followed by a pronoun, e.g. "Le train, il arrive quand?" ("The train, when is it arriving?") or "Lisa, elle est partie?" ("Lisa, she's gone?").
"Ça, c'est bon" is 100% correct, but by saying that you will generally mean "This is good [as opposed to that over there which is not/less good]" or you just want to insist that this thing is really good (not necessarily by comparing to others).
As to "grand merci!", you should use the article "un" with it: "Un grand merci!"
And I answer: "Un grand de rien !".... Naaaaaah, don't say that, it is not common, just a pun with "un grand merci"; just say "avec grand plaisir".
ce, ceci, cela are masculine pronouns, or more exactly (in meaning) neutral.
"... est bonne" can only come after a marked feminine word: elle, la soupe, etc...
I thought bien meant well and bon meant good. Is it more complicated than that? Because it accepts C'est bien as a translation for This is good.
I put "il est bon" on text translation (not hearing) - not accepted :( I thought you can say "il" for objects as well - especially that this is masculine, too
This/that are more specific than "it".
In French, "this/that" translate to "ceci/cela" or c' with verb être.
Thank you, in that case I understand now. The site specifically said "this is good" not "it is good" so it's my fault.
To what example question could "il est bon" be a suitable answer? Just so I know if/how I can use it. Thank you :)
bon and bien are used as adjectives, adverbs and nouns, hence some of the confusion. It is explained clearly in this very good article http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/bon-bien.htm
Similar to "c'est vrai", I'd like to know why one uses "c'est" here when "bon" is an adjective. I thought "c'est..." was for nouns and "il est..." was for adjectives. Thanks.
As far as I know (being a native, and not always aware of such "rules"), what you wrote is for professions :
- C'est un médecin
or
- Il est médecin. ("médecin" here is still a noun in nature, but working as an adjective grammatically)
Not only are we talking about jobs there, but also about people.
Whereas here, in this exercise, "C'est bon" is not about "someone being good" : this sentence is about a situation, or maybe a music, a work, or simply stating that you agree with something. In other words, a proper "it", i.e. "this" or "that".
Now, of course, you could use the impersonal "il" (the same as in "Il pleut"/"It rains" or in "Il faut..."). Then, both structures mean the same thing, only with "Il" it is more formal and there must be something afterwards :
- "Il est bon de préciser que blablabla..." (It is good to clarify that blahblah...).
Otherwise, a simple "it's good" can only be "c'est bon" ("Il est bon" makes no sense).
Merci El Gusso pour toutes les explications rendues avec une symphatie et enthousiame jamais connu a Duo!! C'est formidable! Nous coursistes, on n'est jamais plus seuls!!
I want someone who's fluent in french to practice with it is my Skype: Kareemfdrm
Grammatically, it does not matter, i.e. it is not a mistake.
Context-wise, it depends on what you qualify as "good" : if it's "moral", a consideration of quality or convenience, it is likely to be "bien" ; whereas if you refer to the taste or sensation something provides, it's rather "bon" (plus the expression "C'est bon" that means "that's ok / enough", and other exceptions of course).
Cher El Gusso, un des meilleures de nos professeurs! Il était une fois... 30 ans sont passés, je parlais et j'écrivais en français, c'était ma deuxième moi! Il y a deux semaines que j'ai repris à m'occuper de cette langue grâceuse et j'ai peur de ne réussir jamais plus d' atteindre le niveau d'alors. Je t'en prie de corriger, si tu as le temps, mes écrits sur les formats Duo,même si le numéro des erreurs est embarrassant ou le style de "mon français" très loin d'être naturel. Vive le français, vive Duo, vive nos spécialistes et collaborateurs! Un grand merci aux milliers d'interlocuteurs. Faisons ce voyage ensemble, avec confiance. Lu.
"C'est..." is never followed by an adjective in the feminine form. Even if you refer to a feminine noun (mentioned before in the conversation, for instance), you keep the masculine form because "C'est..." suggests an opinion about your situation / experience / feeling / etc., and is not about the object you refer to per se.
If you wanted to refer to the object of the discussion directly, then you use "il" or "elle", depending on the gender of the object.
-
Que penses-tu de ma nouvelle robe ? = What do you think of my new dress?
-
Oh, elle est belle ! = Oh, it is beautiful! (you really say that "objectively", so to speak, the dress is beautiful)
or
- Oh, c'est beau ! (even though you're still talking about "la robe", feminine") = Oh, it is beautiful ! (here you rather give your subjective opinion).
Can someone explain the difference between using "bon"/"bonne" and "bien"?
I thought there was only one correct answer, because for me:
Bon = good Bien = well
But I guess this difference doesn't matter to Duo.
