Les pronoms démonstratifs Flashcards
Comment dit-ons ‘this one’ (masc. sing)?
Celui
Comment dit-ons ‘these/ those’ (masc.)
Ceux
Comment dit-ons ‘this one/ that one (fem. sing)?
Celle
Comment dit-ons ‘these/ those (fem.)?
Celles
When do you use demonstrative pronouns?
To say ‘this’ or ‘that’ in French you use ce, cet, ces followed by the noun (demonstrative adjectives) but if you want to replace both the demonstrative adjective and the noun, you use the pronouns celui, celle, ceux or celles. They agree in gender and number with the noun that they replace.
Comment dit-ons ‘this one here interests me’ (masc.)?
Celui-ci m’intéresse
Comment dit-ons ‘this one here is fascinating’ (fem.)?
Celle-là est fascinante
Comment dit-ons ‘Sophie’s one’ (masc.)?
Celui de Sophie
Comment dit-ons ‘I met the one who wrote Twilight?’ (fem.)
J’ai rencontré celle qui a écrit <>
What are demonstrative pronouns commonly followed by?
–ci (this one) or là (that one)
–de (to indicate possession)
–relative pronouns (i.e. qui, que, dont, où)
Comment dit-ons ‘The one I’m reading at the moment is fascinating’ (masc.)
Celui que je lis en ce moment est passionant.
Comment dit-ons ‘I don’t know the ones you are talking about’ (masc.)
Je ne connais pas ceux dont tu parles
Comment dit-ons ‘Have you read the one where they all die at the end? (masc.)
Tu as lu celui où ils meurent tous à la fin?
When do you use ceci, cela et ça?
ceci (this), cela (that) and ça (that-more informal) are not related to a specific item but to something indefinite, which has no specific gender, such as a recently mentioned ideas. They are invariable, the forms never change.
e. g. Il m’a offert un livre et cela m’a fait plaisir
e. g. tu aimes la musique classique, mais moi ça ne m’intéresse pas.
Comment dit-ons ‘He had a particular interest in nature, and this can be seen in his paintings.’
Il avait un intérêt pour la nature, et ceci se voit dans ses tableaux
Comment dit-ons ‘this/ that pen’
ce stylo
Comment dit-ons ‘this/ that tree’
cet abre
Comment dit-ons ‘this/ that man’
cet homme
Comment dit-ons ‘this/ that pocket’
cette poche
Comment dit-ons ‘these/ those tables’
ces tables
Why would you add ‘ci’ or ‘là’? to celui/ celle or ce/cette?
To stress the meaning and to be very specific
e.g. ‘Ce-livre ci!,’ (this book (here))
Comment dit-ons ‘I like this book (here)’
J’aime ce livre-ci
Comment dit-ons ‘I like these apples (here)’
J’aime ces pommes-ci
Comment dit-ons ‘I like that tie (there),’
J’aime cette cravate-là
Comment dit-ons ‘I like those books (there)’
J’aime ces livres-là
Comment dit-ons ‘This book (here) is red, but that ball (there) is blue’
Ce livre-ci est rouge, mais cette balle-là est bleue
Comment dit-ons ‘Paul’s one is black’
Celui de Paul est noir
What does ‘celui de’ mean?
The ones of/ those of
Comment dit-ons ‘John’s shirts are yellow, but Paul’s are blue’
Les chemises de Jean sont jaunes, mais celles de Paul sont bleues
Comment dit-ons ‘This one is red, but that one (fem) is black’
Celui-ci est rouge, mais celle-là est noire
Comment dit-ons ‘These are pretty, and those (fem) are beautiful’
Ceux-ci sont jolis, mais celles-là sont belles
What does ‘celui qui’ mean?
the one who (which)
e.g. celui qui attend
Comment dit-ons ‘Which pupil’ ‘the one who waits.’
‘Quel élève?’ ‘Celui qui attend’
Comment dit-ons ‘the ones whom he killed’?
Ceux qu’il a tués
what does ‘celui dont’ mean?
the one (of) whom, which
Comment dit-ons ‘the one (of) which I (have) need’?
Celle dont j’ai besoin
When talking of ‘celui-ci’ and ‘celui-là’ which is always the former and which is always the latter?
Celui-là= the former Celui-ci= the latter
e.g. ‘Voilà une poire et un citron; celle-là est verte, celui-ci est jaune
in this sentence ‘celle-là’ is used to refer to the former, which is green
‘celui-ci’ is used to refer to the latter, which is yellow
Rule of thumb: (celui)-là refers to the noun which is….
(a) closer
(b) farther away
(b) farther away
makes sense at ‘là’ means ‘there’, which suggests more distance than ‘ci’ (from ici meaning here)
Comment dit-ons ‘this is incredible (some event etc.)
Ceci est incroyable
Comment dit-ons ‘What do you think of that (idea)?’
Que pensez-vous de cela?
