The four French demonstrative pronouns are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Celui <\/strong><\/em> (the one\/that one). Masculine singular. (Je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re celui. <\/span><\/em> \u2014 I prefer this one.)<\/li>\n
- Celle <\/strong><\/em> (the one\/that one). Feminine singular. (C\u2019est celle de ma m\u00e8re. <\/span><\/em> \u2014 It\u2019s the one belonging to my mother.)<\/li>\n
- Ceux <\/strong><\/em> (the ones\/those ones). Masculine plural. (J\u2019aime ceux qui sont sur la table. <\/span><\/em> \u2014 I like the ones on the table.)<\/li>\n
- Celles <\/strong><\/em> (these ones\/those ones). Feminine plural. (Tu pr\u00e9f\u00e8res celles-ci ou celles-l\u00e0 ? <\/span><\/em> \u2014 Do you prefer these ones or those ones?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Demonstrative Pronouns vs. Determiners<\/h2>\n
There are a few things to keep in mind when using demonstrative pronouns:<\/p>\n
- \n
- They always need to have a clear antecedent.<\/strong> Avoid using them if it\u2019s unclear what they\u2019re referring to. You\u2019d never say \u201cI prefer this one\u201d unless the person you were talking to already knew exactly what you meant by \u201cthis one.\u201d<\/li>\n
- They replace<\/em> a noun in a sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Demonstrative pronouns are different from demonstrative adjectives (also called determiners<\/a>), which precede<\/em> the noun in order to point it out from others in a group.<\/p>\n
This example shows the difference:<\/p>\n
Determiner:<\/strong> Tu vois<\/span>\u00a0cet<\/strong> homme ? <\/span><\/em> \u2014 Do you see\u00a0that<\/strong> man?<\/p>\n
Demonstrative:<\/strong> Celui<\/strong> avec la grosse moustache ? <\/span><\/em> \u2014 The one<\/strong> with the big mustache?<\/p>\n
French Demonstrative Indefinite Pronouns<\/h2>\n
When a demonstrative pronoun refers\u00a0to an idea or a statement,<\/strong> you\u2019ll want to use a demonstrative indefinite pronoun. These are pronouns that refer to a part of a sentence or to a specific clause.<\/p>\n
In English, we commonly use the words \u201cthis\u201d or \u201cthat\u201d in these situations (for example, \u201cI didn\u2019t hear that\u201d or \u201cDo you understand this?\u201d).<\/p>\n
Chances are you\u2019ve already seen one of these indefinite pronouns quite often in the word C\u2019est.<\/em> This word combines the demonstrative indefinite pronoun ce <\/strong><\/em>\u00a0with a form of the verb\u00a0\u00eatre<\/em><\/a> to mean \u201cThis is\u201d or \u201cThat is.\u201d<\/p>\n
With any verb besides \u00eatre<\/em>, you should use the pronoun \u00e7a <\/strong>,<\/em> which can mean either \u201cthis\u201d or \u201cthat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00c7a va bien ? <\/em> \u2014 Is that going well?<\/p>\n
Tu trouves \u00e7a originale ? <\/em> \u2014\u00a0Do you find this to be original?<\/p>\n
In writing or in more formal situations, you may find that the pronouns ceci <\/strong><\/em> (this) or cela <\/strong><\/em> (that) are used instead of \u00e7a<\/em>. They can be used with any verb:<\/p>\n
Je suis d\u2019accord avec<\/span> cela<\/strong>. <\/em> \u2014 I agree with that<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
How to Use French Demonstrative Pronouns<\/h2>\n
Demonstrative pronouns should only be used if you need to single something out from a group without naming the noun specifically.<\/p>\n
These pronouns always stand alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Unlike demonstrative adjectives, they aren\u2019t accompanied by a noun, because they function as the noun in the sentence.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, you have to add a suffix\u2014either –ci<\/em> or –l\u00e0<\/em>\u2014to specify whether you\u2019re referring to something nearby or something far away.<\/p>\n
Tu aimes<\/span> celui-ci<\/strong> ? Non, je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re<\/span> celui-l\u00e0<\/strong>. <\/em> \u2014 Do you like this one here<\/strong>? No, I prefer that one over there.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Celle-ci<\/strong> est plus sympathique que<\/span>\u00a0celle-l\u00e0<\/strong>. <\/em> \u2014 This one here<\/strong> is nicer than that one over there<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
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- They replace<\/em> a noun in a sentence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Celle <\/strong><\/em> (the one\/that one). Feminine singular. (C\u2019est celle de ma m\u00e8re. <\/span><\/em> \u2014 It\u2019s the one belonging to my mother.)<\/li>\n
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