debiaslumen

[balmy escarp]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[thorn swallow]

moving from back to front

« ce bruit » is the actual subject

« que » is used to avoid a comma

« c’est » is ‘it is’

« est-ce que » is a question marker

« qu’ » is « que », the question word meaning ‘what’

We can reorder this into « c’est quoi, ce bruit ? »

I can’t explain it well, but in French, if we just go, « ce bruit est quoi ? » it feels… off. Same with « Qu’est-ce que ce bruit est ? ». So, we do this thing called ‘dislocation’ where the old subject becomes a pronoun and the actual subject is just there

« Cette femme fait quoi ? »
becomes
« Cette femme, elle fait quoi ? » or « Elle fait quoi, cette femme ? »

[ruby quarry]

Merci beaucoup! This was very well explained! Thank you for taking the time to help me ☺️

[thorn swallow]

You can think of « Qu’est-ce que c’est » as a set phrase

and so to clarify what you’re asking about, you can either add a comma and the noun or « que » and the noun

[teal yarrow]

I'd say it's because verbs sound better with a subject pronoun

So we force it there and then repeat the subject