How to use demonstratives in French?

You can use French demonstratives to point out an object or person. Like their English equivalents, “this,” “that,” “these,” “those,” French demonstratives can either be used before a noun (as an adjective), or they can replace a noun (like a pronoun). However, in French, demonstratives must also agree with the noun they modify or replace in both number and gender!

• The demonstrative adjectives ce, cet, cette, and ces correspond to “this, that, these, those” in English. They come before a noun to designate someone or something that is around.

  Regarde cette voiture !

  Translation: Look at this car!

• The demonstrative pronouns celui, celle, ceux, and celles correspond to “the one” and “the ones” in English. They substitute a noun (something or someone) mentioned before.

  Tu as vu ce film? Celui avec Marion Cotillard ?

  Translation: Have you seen this movie? The one with Marion Cotillard?

• The indefinite demonstrative pronouns ce, ça, and ceci correspond to “it,” “this,” and “that” in English and stand for an idea or something non-specific.

  Ça marche !

  Translation: That works!

For example, have you ever wondered why you’d say cet été (meaning this summer) but cette année (meaning this year) in French? Or do you find it tricky to choose between ce (meaning this, it), ceux (meaning these, those), or celui (meaning the one)?

The demonstrative adjectives in French are ce, cet, cette, and ces; they come before the noun and are used to point out an object or person that is near/around the speaker. They are the equivalent of the English “this/these.” Like in English, demonstrative adjectives agree with the French noun in number, but they also agree in gender in French as well.

Now that you know which demonstrative adjective to use, let’s have a look at the demonstrative pronouns! ↴

The French demonstrative pronouns are celui, celle, ceux, and celles and they replace a noun that has been mentioned before. Using demonstrative pronouns enables you to avoid repetition. Have a look at this short conversation over texts:

• Bon, on loue quelle maison ? La maison avec la piscine ou la maison dans la montagne ?

  Translation: So, which house should we rent? The house with a swimming pool or the house in the mountains?
• La maison avec la piscine !

  Translation: The house with the swimming pool!
• Je suis d’accord ! Et tu préfères cette maison-ci ou cette maison-là?

  Translation: I agree! Would you rather rent this house or that house?

Isn't it tedious to read maison, maison, maison, over and over again? Well, a demonstrative pronoun would help here! Do you know which one? It needs to be feminine and singular → So, it’s celle!

• Use the demonstrative pronouns celui, celle, ceux, and celles to express "the one," "the ones".

  • Celui and ceux replace masculine nouns. Celui replaces singular words, while ceux replaces plural ones.

    • Tu vas acheter un livre ?

      Translation: Are you going to buy a book?
    • Non, il n’y a pas celui (= le livre) que je cherche.

      Translation: No, there isn’t the one I’m looking for.

  • Celle and celles replace feminine nouns. Celle replaces singular words while celles replaces plural ones.

    • C’est la robe que tu as achetée samedi ?

      Translation: Is it the dress you bought on Saturday?
    • Non, c’est celle (= la robe) que j’ai eue pour mon anniversaire

      Translation: No, it’s the one I got for my birthday.

  • → Practice with this exercise.

• Use celui de, celle de, ceux de, or celles de to express possession.

  By simply adding the preposition de after demonstrative pronouns, you show possession.

  • C’est ta voiture ?!

    Translation: Is it your car?!
  • Non, c’est celle de mon voisin.

    Translation: No, it is my neighbor’s.

    Literally: lit. lit. It is the that of my neighbor.

  • Ce sont les enfants d’Audrey ?

    Translation: Are they Audrey’s kids?
  • Non, ce sont ceux de Justine !

    Translation: No, they are Justine’s.

    Literally: lit. lit. No, they are those of Justine.

• Use a pronoun + -ci and -là to express distance

  Adding -ci (meaning here) to a demonstrative pronoun designates something or someone near you while -là (meaning there) is for something or someone a bit further.

  • Tu préfères quel pull ?

    Translation: Which sweater do you prefer?
  • Celui-ci parce qu’il est doux.

    Translation: This one here because it’s soft.
  • Pas celui-là avec la capuche ?

    Translation: Not this one there with the hood?

The indefinite demonstrative pronouns in French are ce, ceci, cela, and ça. Rather than substituting something specific, they stand for an idea, a situation, or something non-specific. They correspond to the English “it, this, that,” and they can be used as subjects or objects of the sentence. The indefinite demonstrative pronouns are used slightly differently depending on which verb they are used with. With the verb être, only ce can be used, taking the form c'est or ce sont (meaning it is, here is/are). With all other verbs, you will use ceci, cela, or ça. Let’s see how to use indefinite demonstrative pronouns!

Let’s review what we have learned!

When using demonstratives in French, keep the following tips in mind:

• Ce, cet (m.), cette (f.), ces (plural) + a noun refer to someone or something that is around. They are the equivalent to: "this, that, those."

• Celui/ceux (m.) and celle/celles (f.) substitute someone or something that has been mentioned before.

• You can add -ci (meaning here) and -là (meaning there) after a noun or a pronoun to specify if they are near or far.

• C’est + singular noun and ce sont + plural noun introduce things and people. They also stand for an idea determined by a context.

• Basically, ça = cela = ceci (meaning this, it). They are used as a subject or an object with any verb other than être; ça is the most used of all three.

• Use ce + être; ce cannot be used with other verbs.

Ready to give it a go? Check out our exercises to practice French demonstrative adjectives and pronouns. Allons-y !