Demonstratives: ce, cet, cette, ces

Overview

Demonstrative adjectives mean this / that / these / those. They replace the article (le, la, les) and agree with the noun in gender and number.

The four forms

Choose by gender, number, and the first sound of the noun.

Examples

Notice cet exists only for sound — to avoid two vowels clashing.

• ce livre (this book — m)
• cet homme (this man — m + vowel sound)
• cet arbre (this tree)
• cette femme (this woman — f)
• cette école (this school — f)
• ces enfants (these children — pl)

This vs. that

French uses the same word for both. To insist on the difference, add -ci (here/this) or -là (there/that) after the noun.

• ce livre-ci (this book here)
• ce livre-là (that book there)
• Je préfère cette robe-ci.

Note: ce qui / ce que

Different structure — ce qui and ce que mean "what" as a relative pronoun (Je sais ce que tu veux = I know what you want). Don't confuse with the demonstrative ce above.

• Ce qui est important, c'est la santé.
• Dis-moi ce que tu penses.