I am working on an assignment and can't figure out which sentence is correct...
C’est de longs devoirs laborieux
Ce sont de longs devoirs laborieux
Could somebody please tell me which is correct (if any are) and why?
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2 Answers
Ce sont de longs devoirs laborieux
I'm guessing that your question isn't about the conjugation (est being 3rd-person singular, sont being plural) but about whether the subject of the verb is ce (singular) or de longs devoirs (plural).
The answer is that in this « tour présentatif », you treat the thing you're talking about as the subject of the verb, even though grammatically you would expect ce to take that role.
Thus, de longs devoirs is your subject and you use sont to agree with the plural.
answered Feb 23, 2019 at 18:17
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@MathieuBouville Ah, okay. (So for an assignment/test in a class, the asker should probably stick with sont.)– Luke Sawczak ♦Feb 23, 2019 at 18:59
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Like using 'there is' where you should use 'there are': it happens, but it shouldn't. Feb 23, 2019 at 19:30
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1@MathieuBouville Sometimes, the singular is even mandatory for the verb even when referring to a plural: Ce sont de longs devoirs laborieux. – Oui, c'en est ! (not c'en sont). Also: Combien ça coûte ? – C'est huit euros par personne. (not ce sont huit euros). C'est vous qui voyez (not ce sont vous qui voyez)– jlliagreFeb 24, 2019 at 5:08
It all depends on whether the subject is singular or plural, if you are talking about only one exercise that you find hard, you can just say:
C’est un exercice laborieux.
But if you are talking about various exercises, we would rather use:
Ce sont de longs devoirs laborieux.
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The subject, being the pronoun ce, is technically singular, This is a case where the verb can agree with its object instead of its subject.– jlliagreFeb 24, 2019 at 16:54