French 5: This and That

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Demonstrative adjectives ("this", "that", "these", and "those") modify nouns so they refer to something or someone specific. They can be used in place of articles. Like other adjectives, they must agree with the nouns they modify.

GenderSingularPlural
Masculinece/cetces
Femininecetteces
The indefinite demonstrative pronoun ça refers to an unnamed concept or thing. When it's used as an object, it usually translates to "this" or "that".

A simple rule of thumb to follow is that ce should be used with être, including in the double-verb constructions pouvoir être and devoir être.

Ceci ("this") and cela ("that") are the formal versions of the indefinite demonstrative pronoun ça ("this" or "that"). These are used when pointing something out, referring to something indefinite (like an idea), or referring back to something already mentioned.

However, cela and ceci can also be used with être for emphasis.

Demonstrative Pronouns

TypeAdj + Noun ⇒ PronounEnglish
Masc. Sing.ce + noun ⇒ celuithe one / this one / that one
Masc. Plur.ces + noun ⇒ ceuxthe ones / these / those
Fem. Sing.cette + noun ⇒ cellethe one / this one / that one
Fem. Plur.ces + noun ⇒ cellesthe ones / these / those
A relative pronoun and dependent clause can follow the demonstrative pronoun. For instance, you can use que when the relative pronoun is the direct object and use qui when it's the subject.

The preposition de can appear after the demonstrative pronoun to indicate possession.

Demonstratives like ce and celui are ambiguous and can mean either "this" or "that". To remove this ambiguity, you can add a suffix to the end of each pronoun. Add -ci for "this/these" and -là for "that/those".

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