Demonstrative Adjectives: ce, cet, cette, ces
Demonstrative Adjectives: ce, cet, cette, ces
French 'this/that' as an adjective changes form to match the noun's gender and number — a fourth wrinkle French adds on top of le/la/les that English's invariable 'this/that/these/those' doesn't need.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
ce / cet / cette / ces
ce livre (this book), cet homme (this man), cette femme (this woman), ces livres (these books)
this book, this man, this woman, these books
ce goes before masculine singular nouns, cette before feminine singular nouns, and ces before any plural noun. English 'this' and 'that' never change shape regardless of the noun's gender or number — French demonstratives do, so you have to match them to the noun just like le/la/les.
cet before a vowel or mute h
cet homme (this man), cet arbre (this tree) — not ce homme
this man, this tree
When a masculine singular noun starts with a vowel or a silent h, ce becomes cet purely for smoother pronunciation — the same liaison instinct that turns le/la into l'. cet sounds identical to cette in speech, so context (a masculine noun following it) is what tells you it's the masculine form.
ce...-ci vs ce...-là: 'this one here' vs 'that one there'
ce livre-ci (this book, here) / ce livre-là (that book, there)
this book (here) / that book (there)
French doesn't actually have separate words for 'this' and 'that' at the adjective level the way English does — ce/cette/ces cover both, and if you need to be specific about near vs. far, you attach -ci ('here') or -là ('there') to the end of the noun. This is optional and only used when the distinction really matters, e.g. comparing two options side by side.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ce livre | suh leev | this book |
| cet homme | set om | this man |
| cet arbre | set AR-bruh | this tree |
| cette femme | set fam | this woman |
| cette maison | set may-ZOHN | this house |
| ces livres | say leev-ruh | these books |
| ces femmes | say fam | these women |
| ce stylo-ci | suh stee-loh SEE | this pen (here, not that one) |
| ce stylo-là | suh stee-loh LAH | that pen (there) |