"Celui" and its forms mean "this one"/"that one"/"the one" or
"these"/"those"/"the ones".
Use them for pointing something out or indicating a preference.
What Are They?
Celui - masculine singular - this one/that one/the one
Celle - feminine singular - this one/that one/the one
Ceux - masculine plural - these/those/the ones
Celles - feminine plural - these/those/the ones
As with demonstrative adjectives, "-ci" and "-la" can be
added after a form of celui to distinguish between
people or objects that are closer or father away.
Celle-ci = an object that is closer
Celui-la = an object that is farther away
Forms of celui can also be followed by a relative clause
to mean "the one(s) that" or "the one(s) whose"
Forms of celui cannot stand alone and must be followed by -ci or -la.
A prepositional phrase
can also follow a
demonstrative pronoun.
Adjectives that modify forms of
celui must agree with them in
gender and number. Past
participles should agree with
forms of celui when appropriate.
You can use "celui-la" or "celle-la" to refer to
someone in a familiar or scornful way.
Ceci and cela are also demonstrative pronouns.
Ceci - draws attention to
something that is about to
be said.
Cela - refers to
something that has
already been said.
Ceci and cela have a literary tone to them. In everyday French, use ce or ca.
Ce before forms of etre
Ca before other verbs.
"C'est" can be used in many constructions.
C'est + name - identifies a person
C'est + article/adjective + noun - identifies a person or thing
C'est + disjunctive pronoun - identifies a person
C'est + adjective - describes an idea or expresses an opinion
Infinitive + c'est + infinitive - draws an equivalency between two actions.
A demonstrative pronoun followed by ci or la = latter and former, respectively.