Demonstrative Adjectives: ce, cet, cette, ces
संकेतवाचक विशेषण: ce, cet, cette, ces
French 'this/that' as an adjective changes form to match the noun's gender and number — ce (masc.), cette (fem.), ces (plural) — a wrinkle Hindi doesn't quite have. Hindi's यह ('this') and वह ('that') already distinguish near from far, but neither changes for the noun's gender — यह आदमी and यह औरत both keep यह unchanged. French does the opposite: it collapses near and far into a single word (ce/cette covers both 'this' and 'that'), but forces that word to agree with the noun's gender and number instead, the way le/la/les already does.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
ce / cet / cette / ces
ce livre (this book), cet homme (this man), cette femme (this woman), ces livres (these books)
यह किताब, यह आदमी, यह औरत, ये किताबें
ce goes before masculine singular nouns, cette before feminine singular nouns, and ces before any plural noun. Hindi's यह and वह don't change shape for gender at all — only for number (यह → ये, वह → वे) — so French demonstratives add a layer of agreement, gender, that Hindi's don't carry; you now have to match ce/cette to the noun's gender just like le/la/les.
cet before a vowel or mute h
cet homme (this man), cet arbre (this tree) — not ce homme
स्वर या मौन 'h' से पहले 'cet' का प्रयोग होता है
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'. Hindi has no equivalent sound-driven shrinkage rule for यह/वह, so this is a French-specific reflex you have to build from scratch. 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)
यह किताब (यहाँ) / वह किताब (वहाँ)
Hindi keeps 'this' and 'that' as two separate base words, यह and वह, and uses them constantly to mark near vs. far. French doesn't actually have separate words for 'this' and 'that' at the adjective level — ce/cette/ces cover both — so when you need to be as explicit as Hindi already is by default, you attach -ci ('here') or -là ('there') to the end of the noun instead. This is optional in French and only used when the distinction really matters, e.g. comparing two options, whereas in Hindi you make that choice every time you say यह or वह.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| French | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ce livre | suh leev | यह किताबyah kitāb | this book |
| cet homme | set om | यह आदमीyah ādmī | this man |
| cet arbre | set AR-bruh | यह पेड़yah peṛ | this tree |
| cette femme | set fam | यह औरतyah aurat | this woman |
| cette maison | set may-ZOHN | यह घरyah ghar | this house |
| ces livres | say leev-ruh | ये किताबेंye kitābeñ | these books |
| ces femmes | say fam | ये औरतेंye aurateñ | these women |
| ce stylo-ci | suh stee-loh SEE | यह कलम (यहाँ)yah kalam (yahāñ) | this pen (here, not that one) |
| ce stylo-là | suh stee-loh LAH | वह कलम (वहाँ)vah kalam (vahāñ) | that pen (there) |