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Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns single out the noun they replace. They fall into two categories: simple pronouns (one word) or compound (two words).

Simple demonstratives must be accompanied by a relative clause which provides additional information about the noun they refer to, with or without a preposition.

Nous avons deux familles; celle de mon père et celle de ma mère.
(We have two families; that of my father and that of my mother.)

With the exception of ce (neutral), they vary according to the number and gender of the noun they represent:

	Singular (this one, that one, the one)	Plural (these, those, the ones)
Masculine	celui, ce (neutral form)	ceux
Feminine	celle	celles

Voici des chocolats; prenez celui que vous préférez.
(Here are some chocolates; take the one you prefer.)

Voici des chocolats; prenez ce que vous preférez.
(Here are some chocolates; take whichever you prefer.)

Compound demonstrative pronouns are formed by combining simple demonstrative pronouns with -ci and là.

	Singular (this one, that one, the one)	Plural (these, those, the ones)
Masculine	celui-ci, celui-là	ceux-ci, ceux-là
Feminine	celle-ci, celle-là	celles-ci, celles-là
Neutral	ceci, cela/ça

NOTE: -ci is used to indicate "the latter"; -la indicates "the former".

Lamartine et Balzac étaient écrivains: Celui-ci était romancier et celui-là était poète.
(Lamartine and Balzac were writers. The latter was a novelist and the former a poet.)

Note: ceci and cela/ça (neutral) are considered masculine for the purpose of gender agreement; ça replaces cela in familiar French:

Ça a bien marché!
(It went well).