Demonstrative Determiners For Intermediate learners

What Are Demonstrative Determiners (Les déterminants démonstratifs) in French?

Demonstrative determiners (Les déterminants démonstratifs) are words that point to a specific noun and show which one(s) you are talking about. They correspond in English to "this," "that," "these," and "those."

In French, demonstrative determiners agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they modify.

Forms of Demonstrative Determiners

Here's a table of French demonstrative determiners:

Demonstrative Determiners	Gender / Number	English Equivalent
ce	masculine singular (before consonant)	this / that
cet	masculine singular (before vowel or mute h)	this / that
cette	feminine singular	this / that
ces	plural (masculine & feminine)	these / those

Tip!

Use cet instead of ce when the masculine noun begins with a vowel or mute h to make pronunciation smoother. For example:

Example

cet homme (Not ce homme)

this man

Uses of Demonstrative Determiners

Demonstrative determiners are used to:

Identify or point to something specific

Example

Ce livre est intéressant.

This/That book is interesting.

Cette chaise est confortable.

This/That chair is comfortable.

Differentiate between options or locations

Example

Ces chaussures-ci sont trop petites, mais ces chaussures-là sont parfaites.

These shoes here are too small, but those shoes there are perfect.

-ci or -là show proximity or distance here.

Emphasize a particular object or person in context

Example

Regarde cette photo !

Look at this/that photo!

Placement in a Sentence

Demonstrative determiners always come before the noun they modify:

Example

Ce chien est mignon.

This dog is cute.

Cette robe est belle.

This dress is beautiful.

Ces enfants jouent dans le parc.

These children are playing in the park.

Differences Between French and English

French requires gender and number agreement, English does not. For example:

Example

ce gâteau (masculine singular)

this cake

cette tarte (feminine singular)

this pie

ces gâteaux (plural)

these cakes

In English, "this" and "these" often indicate something near, and "that" and "those" indicate something farther away. In French you can use -ci (here) and -là (there) for clarity: