How French works
When we speak or write we often wish to place emphasis on a particular element in a sentence. In English this is most commonly achieved by means of vocal stress in spoken language, rendered in written language by boldface, italics or underlining. For example:
You go, if you want to. I've been there already
She wanted to see me, not you
In French, however, word stress is much less common. Instead emphasis is generally created by two other means. First by means of a change in the usual word order and often the addition of a personal pronoun . This is sometimes called dislocation and is used to emphasize nouns and pronouns :
Vas-y, toi, si tu veux. Moi, j'y suis déjà allé
And second by means of an introducing construction such as c'est ... que. This is sometimes called extraction and is used to emphasize nouns, pronouns and adverbials of all kinds:
C'est moi qu'elle voulait voir, pas toi
Most commonly the noun is moved to the beginning or end of the sentence, whilst a subject pronoun (il, elle) is put in its place:
My brother wouldn't have said that
Mon frère, il n'aurait pas dit ça
Il n'aurait pas dit ça, mon frère
Here the basic sentence stays the same while a disjunctive pronoun (moi, toi) is placed at the beginning or end of the sentence:
I wouldn't have said that
Moi, je n'aurais pas dit ça
Je n'aurais pas dit ça, moi
Here the noun is moved to the beginning or end of the sentence, whilst an object pronoun (le, la, les) is put in its place:
I didn't like his latest film
Son dernier film, je ne l'ai pas aimé
Here the basic sentence stays the same while a disjunctive pronoun is placed at the beginning or end of the sentence:
I respect you
Toi, je te respecte / Je te respecte, toi
Here the noun is moved to the beginning of the sentence, whilst an object pronoun (lui, leur, en) is included in the original sentence:
He told his parents
Ses parents, il le leur a dit
I'm not afraid of dentists
Les dentistes, je n'en ai pas peur
Here the basic sentence stays the same while a disjunctive pronoun is placed at the beginning of the sentence:
He told them
Eux, il le leur a dit
I'm not afraid of them
Eux, je n'en ai pas peur
Note that dislocation is a very common feature of questions in spoken French, whether or not there is anything being overtly stressed:
Ils sont bien arrivés à Paris, tes parents?
Did your parents arrive in Paris safely?
Tu l'a vu, le dernier film de Depardieu?
Have you seen Gérard Depardieu's latest film?
Note also that nouns and infinitive phrases can also be emphasized using ce or ça on a similar structure:
La politique, ça m'intéresse beaucoup
I'm very interested in politics
Passer quelques jours en France, j'aimerais bien ça
I'd love to spend a few days in France
L'essentiel, c'est d'arriver à l'heure
The main thing is to arrive on time
For emphasizing subject nouns and pronouns, the construction c'est ... qui is used:
Mon frère / Il a dit ça → C'est mon frère / lui qui a dit ça
My brother / He said that
For emphasizing direct object nouns and pronouns, the construction c'est ... que is used:
Je voulais voir ton frère → C'est ton frère / toi que je voulais voir
I wanted to see your brother / you
For emphasizing nouns and pronouns introduced by a preposition , the construction c'est ... que is used:
Je voulais te parler / parler à ton frère → C'est à ton frère / à toi que je voulais parler
I wanted to speak to your brother / to you
Nouns and clauses can also be emphasized using the structure ce qui / ce que ... c'est (see 34:5.1.2)
In spoken French it is acceptable to stress the individual word vocally, especially with mon, ma, mes:
It's my book, not yours!
C'est mon livre, non le tien!
In written French and much spoken French emphasis is provided by adding à plus the appropriate disjunctive pronoun (moi, toi, lui etc.):
No, that's your opinion
Non, c'est ton avis à toi
These are stressed by adding -ci or -là to the end of the noun or demonstrative :
We entered by this door and not by that one
C'est par cette porte-ci et non celle-là qu'on est entrés
As in English, these can be emphasized by means of vocal stress:
I'd like to speak to you alone
Je voudrais te parler seul
More commonly, however, they are emphasized by means of extraction, using the framing construction c'est ... que:
We first met at a party / It was at a party that we first met
C'est à une soirée que nous nous sommes rencontrés pour la première fois
Its thanks to him that the package was found
C'est grâce à lui que le paquet a été retrouvé
In many instances verbs in French can be emphasized by vocal stress:
I love chocolate! I hate soap operas!
J'adore le chocolat! Je hais les feuilletons!
One of the most common forms of verb stress in English arises when a question is being asked in order to make sure of something. In French, emphasis is created by adding bien after the verb (in a simple tense ) or auxiliary (in a compound tense ):
That is a Wednesday, isn't it?
C'est bien un mercredi, n'est-ce pas?
You did remember to close the window, didn't you?
Tu a bien pensé à fermer la fenêtre, n'est-ce pas?
You are coming to the party on Saturday?
Tu viens bien à la soirée samedi?
This structure also works for certain exclamative questions:
I've lost my glasses. Where can they be?
J'ai perdu mes lunettes. Où peuvent-elles bien être?
English also uses verb stress when picking up on an element (usually a noun or pronoun ) recently mentioned. This is rendered in French by dislocation of this element:
I saw Pierre this afternoon in town
Je l'ai vu, Pierre, cet après-midi en ville
Pierre, je l'ai vu cet après-midi en ville
Sometimes we wish to place emphasis on two elements in a sentence. This can be achieved through double dislocation (in informal French):
Marie hates football
Marie le football elle déteste ça
Or through a combination of dislocation and extraction:
If anything, it was Fido who chose us
On dirait plutôt que c'était Fido qui nous a choisi, nous
What worries me is his / her attitude
Ce qui m'inquiète, moi, c'est son attitude