Learn French Grammar: Demonstrative Pronouns

Grammar

The four forms of the demonstrative pronoun

The demonstrative pronoun replaces a noun that has already appeared. It takes one of four forms, and the choice depends on the gender and number of the noun it replaces.

Celui — masculine singular
Celle — feminine singular
Ceux — masculine plural
Celles — feminine plural

The pronoun never appears alone. It is always followed by a de-phrase, by a relative clause, or by the suffixes -ci and -là that point to a specific item.

Agreement of the demonstrative pronoun

Gender and number	Pronoun	Example
masculine singular	celui	Je préfère celui de Marie.
feminine singular	celle	Je préfère celle de Marie.
masculine plural	ceux	Je préfère ceux de Marie.
feminine plural	celles	Je préfère celles de Marie.

Completed by a de-phrase

A demonstrative pronoun often carries a de-phrase that identifies the specific item being referenced. The de-phrase follows the pronoun directly.

Mon livre et celui de Paul. — the book belonging to Paul
Sa voiture et celle de son frère. — the car belonging to her brother
Mes idées et celles de mes collègues. — the ideas belonging to the colleagues

The pronoun replaces the noun, and the de-phrase supplies the possessor or the source. The gender and number of the pronoun match the noun that is being replaced, not the noun that appears in the de-phrase.

Completed by a relative clause

A demonstrative pronoun is frequently followed by a relative clause introduced by qui or que. The relative clause identifies which item is meant.

Celui qui parle est mon frère. — the one who is speaking
Celle que je connais est médecin. — the one whom I know
Ceux qui travaillent dur réussissent. — those who work hard
Celles que nous avons vues étaient belles. — the ones we saw

The pronoun supplies the antecedent for the relative clause, and the relative clause completes the identification. The verb in the main clause agrees with the pronoun, not with the noun inside the relative clause.

The suffixes -ci and -là

The suffixes -ci and -là point to a specific item within a set. They attach to the pronoun with a hyphen and distinguish two items that have already been mentioned.

Celui-ci — this one, the closer one
Celui-là — that one, the further one
Celle-ci and celle-là — the feminine singular pair
Ceux-ci and ceux-là — the masculine plural pair
Celles-ci and celles-là — the feminine plural pair

The suffix -ci typically points to the item mentioned more recently, and -là points to the item mentioned earlier. In spoken French, -là is often used alone without any contrast, and -ci appears more frequently in careful speech and in writing.

Examples

Je préfère ce livre à celui de Marie.

The pronoun celui replaces livre, which is masculine singular. The de-phrase identifies the owner.

Sa voiture est plus rapide que celle de son frère.

Celle replaces voiture, which is feminine singular. The de-phrase supplies the comparison target.

Mes idées sont différentes de celles de mes collègues.

Celles replaces idées, which is feminine plural. The pronoun agrees with the noun it replaces, not with the noun in the de-phrase.

Celui qui parle est mon frère.

The pronoun celui is completed by the relative clause qui parle. The main verb est agrees with the singular pronoun.

Celle que je connais est médecin.

The relative pronoun que introduces the clause, and the antecedent is the feminine singular pronoun celle.

Demonstrative Pronouns (Les pronoms démonstratifs)

What you’ll learn

Grammar

The four forms of the demonstrative pronoun

Agreement of the demonstrative pronoun

Completed by a de-phrase

Completed by a relative clause

The suffixes -ci and -là

Watch out for these

Examples

Exercises

What you’ll learn

Grammar

The four forms of the demonstrative pronoun

Agreement of the demonstrative pronoun

Completed by a de-phrase

Completed by a relative clause

The suffixes -ci and -là

Examples

Exercises

Related lessons