C’est-à-dire

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Essential French Expression

Meaning	that is, i.e., meaning
Literally	that is to say
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[seh tah deer]
IPA		[sɛ ta dir]

Usage notes: It’s very rare that we speak perfectly, saying exactly what we want to say in one flawless sentence. When there’s a need to clarify and expand, the French expression c’est-à-dire comes to the rescue.

Par exemple…

On va commencer à l’aube, c’est-à-dire à 6h00.		We’re going to start at dawn, meaning 6am.
Un webmestre, c’est-à-dire une personne qui créé des sites web…		A webmaster, that is, a person who creates websites…

You can also use it to clarify or ask for confirmation of what someone else says:

– Je dois étudier ce soir.		– I have to study tonight.
– C’est-à-dire que tu ne dînes pas avec nous ?		– Meaning you won’t be having dinner with us?

And you can use c’est-à-dire to request a more explicit explanation.

– Tu dois faire plus attention à ce que tu dis.		– You need to pay more attention to what you say.
– C’est-à-dire ?		– Meaning? / Meaning what? / What’s that supposed to mean?
– C’est-à-dire que tu froisses souvent tes amis avec tes remarques irréfléchies.		– Meaning / It means that you often offend your friends with inconsiderate comments.

Informal abbreviations (from most to least correct)

• c-à-d
• càd
• c-a-d
• cad

Somewhat synonymous

• à savoir
• donc
• en clair
• en d’autres termes
• enfin
• je veux dire
• plus précisément

 Related lessons

• C’est
• À and other prepositions
• Using dire

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