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French Demonstrative Pron
celui,celle,ceux,celles
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Explaining French Demonstrative Pron
A French demonstrative pronoun replaces a demonstrative adjective (ce, cette, etc.)+
Here are a couple of examples to illustrate this point:
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Dialogue 1 Dialogue 2 Di
- Je voudrais acheter ce pantalon, sil vous plat.
- Lequel? Le noir ou le gris?
- Non, le marron, celuiqui est votre gauche.
(I would like to buy these pants, please. / Which ones?
The black ones or the grey ones? / No, the brown ones,
those to your left)
- Une de mes filles est malade.
- Cellequi a quatre ans?
- Non, cellequi a huit ans.
(One of my daughters is sick. / The 4 year-old one? / No,
the 8 year-old one)
- J ai mang les bonb
- Lesquels? Ceuxqu
- Non, ceuxqui appa
(Ive eaten the candies.
bag? / No, the ones that
Masculine Feminine
Singular celui celle
Plural ceux celles
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French demonstrative pronouns can be classified as simple: celui, celle, ceux, celles
In which conditions do simple demonstrative pronouns appear?
1) Use celui, celle, ceux, celles when they are followed by a relative pronoun (qui ,
dont, etc.)- Tu veux faire quel exercise? Oh, celui qui est le plus difficile. (Wh
activity do you want to do? Oh, the most difficult one.)
Use celui, celle, ceux, celles whenthey are followed by the preposition de + nou
- - On prend la voiture de Chris ou de Michel? Prenons celle de Chris! (Do we tak
Chriss car or Michels? Lets take Chriss.)
Type 1: Simple Demonstrative Prono3
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Ce & a: Neutral Demonstrative Pron
Among the French demonstrative pronouns, you must also include the neutral forms
Because these are neutral pronouns, the considerations of gender and number do no
ce/candain sentences such as:
Cest intressant, ce roman. This book is interesting.
Je connais les Dupond. Ce sont des gens bien. I know the Duponds; they are good
Tu aimes le croissant aux raisins? Oui, jaime abeaucoup. You like raisin croiss
very much.
Tu veux a? You want this?
Warning:All adjectives directlyfollowing the construction Cest mustALWAYSbe
singularform. Cest dprimant (m.s.), cette musique (f.)! Its depressing, this music!
musique is feminine, the pronoun adjective dprimantthat characterizes it is in the m
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How to Use Ce / (Case 1)
6Jai visit Paris. Cest une ville superbe. I visited Paris. Its a beautiful c
The neutral demonstrative pronoun ce/c (just like any other pronoun), replaceso
One notable feature of ce/c is that it is always followed by the verb tre (+ noun
infinitive, or object or an adverb/adverbial phrase.
(Cest + noun): Cest un vlo! Its a bike!
(Cest + adjective): Cest magnifique! Its magnificent!
(Cest + infinitive): Voler, cest prendre ce qui ne vous appartient pas. Stealing is
belong to you.
(Cest + adverb): Cest l que je vais. Im going there.
(Cest + adverbial phrase of time): Cest ce matin que je vais passer lexamen! I w
this morning.
(Cest +mise en relief): Cest Marcel qui arrive. Its Marcel who is arriving.
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La paix, cest ce quil faut dans ce monde. Peace is what we need in this world
Another notable feature of the neutral demonstrative pronoun is that it can be used with relat
ce que, ce qui, ce dont.
Note that in this case this pronoun can mean anything like the thing, the event, or whatever
to replace here. Check this example:
Ce quejai vu tait poustouflant! What I saw breathtaking. (In this sentence, perh
am referring to is a show I attended, an accident, a portrait, etc.).
Ce qui me plat, cest sa faon de danser. What I like is the way he dances. (In this
the sa facon de danser is represented by the relative pronoun ce qui.
Je vois ce dont vous parlez. I see what you are talking about
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How to Use Ce / (Case 2
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aas neutral pronoun is very common in spoken French language. It usually means that in
you like that?
ais considered more casual/colloquial (contracted form) of Cela.
As you will see very shortly, a can replace almost everything in French.
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Neutral Pronoun a: Introductory
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acan represent a noun(usually an inanimateone)
Le chocolat, jadore a!
Je nai jamais dit a! (=ces mots) Ive never uttered these words
ais considered more casual/colloquial (contracted form) of Cela.
When areplaces people, it can often take a pejorative sense:
(1) Les lves, abavarde et abavarde! Students wont stop chatting!
(2) Les jeunes, ane fait jamais rien de bon. Young people never do anything worthwhile.
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Using a To Replace Nouns
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acan replace more than a noun. They can also complete clauses.
Le prof est en colre, a minquite un peu. The teacher is upset, Im a bit concerned
Jen ai marre!, a veut dire que jen ai assez Jen ai marre! means Ive had enough.
Les chambres qui sont mal ranges, je trouve a dgueu! Untidy rooms, I find them disgus
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Using a To Replace Entire Cla
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acan be found in many phrases and expressions, many of which are idioms.
- Comment ava? How are you? / Bof, comme-ci comme-a. Meh, so so.
Alors, a y est?Are we done yet? / Finished? / Done?
a mest gal, tu fais ce que tu veux. I dont care, do what you want.
On va manger au resto ce soir? a te dit ? We eat out tonight? Interested?
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Using a In Idiomatic Expressi
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acan be used to replace an infinitive.
Dormir, ane mintresse pas pour le moment. Im not into sleeping for now.
a te plat, mditer? Do you like meditating?
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Using a To Replace Infinitiv
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NextFrench Possessive Pronouns
In the next section of this chapter, you will learn about theFrench poss
pronouns (le mien, le tien, le sien, etc.). This is a nice transition, if yo
studied the adjective pronouns (mon, ma mes, etc.).
You will learn how to use the French possessive pronouns in a sentence
also learn about all their forms and the agreement rules they follow.
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