Question

French Tutorial: Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns

Answer 1

\({\bf{Demonstrative~Adjectives:}}\) modify nouns and specify location/relevance. in English, these are the adjectives this, that, these, and those.

Singular Form: (masc./fem.)
ce/cette* (this or that)

*in front of a vowel/h muet, ce becomes cet

Plural Form: (masc./fem.)
ces/ces

ex:
Ce chien se comporte mieux que cet enfant. (This dog is better behaved than that child.)
Il y a deux chats publics. Arrêtez de spammer ces messages. (There are two public chats. Stop spamming these posts.)

Answer 2

Ci et -là are appended to nouns (not the demonstrative adjectives) and are used to distinguish between multiple nouns modified by demonstrative adjectives.

Since ce/cette/ces doesn't distinguish between this/that, you can add -ci to specify this/here and -là to specify that/there.

Je prends ce cours-ci. (I am taking this course.)
Nous avons besoin de cette voiture-là. (We need that car.)

ex:
J'aime cette peinture-ici. Mais j'aime mieux cette peinture-là. (I like this painting (here) but I like that one (there) better.)

Answer 3

\({\bf{Demonstrative~Pronouns:}}\) replace nouns, and agree in gender + number w/ the nouns they replace. In English, these are equivalent to the pronouns this/this one/that/that one/those).

Singular: (masc/fem.)
celui/celle

Plural: (masc/fem.)
ceux/celles

Demonstrative pronouns cannot stand by themselves. They must be used...
- with the suffixes -ci and -là

ex: J'aime mieux celui-ci. Il aime mieux celui-là. (I like this one better. He likes that one better.)

- after a preposition
ex: Dans quelle banque va-t-il? Celui de l'épicerie ou celui du bureau de poste? (Which bank is he going to? The one by the grocery store or the one by the post office?)

- before a dependent clause (before the relative pronoun)
ex: Ont peut voir quel enfant a été discipliné correctement. Celui qui s'est bien comporté. (One can see which child has been properly disciplined. The one that has is well-behaved.)

Answer 4

Ceci et cela are indefinite demonstrative pronouns (equivalent to this and that) with no explicit antecedent. Unlike the previous pronouns, they do not change to reflect the gender & number of the noun they refer to.

Cela n'a pas d'importance. (It doesn't matter.)
Cela me rappelle... (That reminds me...)

Answer 5

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 212-215.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/vocabulary/suffix-ci/
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/vocabulary/suffix-la/
https://www.thoughtco.com/ci-french-suffix-1371388
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/indefinite-demonstrative-pronouns/

CollinsDictionary for French and English translations

Forvo (https://forvo.com/), a French pronunciation database with samples from native French speakers