Fiches de Grammaire #4 Flashcards
Demonstrative adjectives
- Demonstrative adjectives specify a noun to which a speaker is referring.
- They mean this/these or that/those
- They can refer to people or things
ce (masc. sing before a consonant)
cet (masc. sing before a consonant)
ces (masc. plural)
cette (fem.)
Demonstrative adjectives:
What are they and when are they used?
- ce (mas sing. before a consonant)
- cet (masc. sing. before a vowel sound)
- ces (masc. plural)
- cette (fem.)
Examples:
Ce drapeau est bleu, blanc, et rouge. (This [that] flag is blue, white, and red)
Cette croyance est absurde, à mon avis (That [this] belief is absurd, in my opinion)
Ces droits sont très importants. (These [those] rights are very important)
Demonstrative adjectives
When to use CET
A noun must be masculine singular and begin with a vowel sound in order to use cet
Examples:
Cet homme politique était victorieux (This [that] politician was victorious)
Cet advocat défend les minorités (This [that] lawyer defends minorities)
Demonstrative adjectives
Ce, cet, cette, and ces
ce, cet, cette, and ces can refer to a noun that is near (this/these) or far (that/those).
Context will usually make the meaning clear
Demonstrative adjectives
To distinguish between two different nouns of the same kind
To distinguish between two different nouns of the same kind, add -ci (this/these) or -là (that/those) to the noun
Examples:
Ce parti politique-ci est libéral (This political party is liberal)
Ce parti politique-là est conservateur (that political party is conservative)
Demonstrative adjectives
The suffixes -ci and là
The suffixes -ci and -là cab also be used to distinguish between similar items that are near and far
Examples:
Je voudrais ce gåteau-ci, s’il vous plaît, pas ce gåteau-là **
(I would like this cake [here], please, not that cake [there])
On a lu ces magazines-ci et ces magazines-là aussi.
(We read these magazines [here] and those magazines [there] too.
