Demonstrative Adjectives: ce, cet, cette, ces
സൂചക വിശേഷണങ്ങൾ: ce, cet, cette, ces
French 'this/that' as an adjective changes form to match the noun's gender and number — a wrinkle French adds on top of le/la/les that Malayalam's single unchanging ഈ/ആ prefix doesn't need.
Grammar Comparison
വ്യാകരണ താരതമ്യം
ce / cet / cette / ces
ce livre (this book), cet homme (this man), cette femme (this woman), ces livres (these books)
ഈ പുസ്തകം, ഈ മനുഷ്യൻ, ഈ സ്ത്രീ, ഈ പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ
ce goes before masculine singular nouns, cette before feminine singular nouns, and ces before any plural noun. Malayalam's ഈ ('this') and ആ ('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
'cet' — സ്വരാക്ഷരത്തിന് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മൗനമായ 'h'-ന് മുന്നിൽ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നു
When a masculine singular noun starts with a vowel or a silent h, ce becomes cet purely for smoother pronunciation — the same 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)
ഈ പുസ്തകം (ഇവിടെ) / ആ പുസ്തകം (അവിടെ)
French doesn't actually have separate words for 'this' and 'that' at the adjective level — 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. Malayalam already keeps ഈ ('this, near') and ആ ('that, far') as two separate words from the start, so French's single ce/cette/ces covering both distances, only split apart with -ci/-là when it really matters, is the part that needs getting used to.
Vocabulary
വാക്കുകൾ
- Malayalam
- ഈ പുസ്തകംee pusthakam
- English
- this book
- Malayalam
- ഈ മനുഷ്യൻee manushyan
- English
- this man
- Malayalam
- ഈ മരംee maram
- English
- this tree
- Malayalam
- ഈ സ്ത്രീee sthree
- English
- this woman
- Malayalam
- ഈ വീട്ee veedu
- English
- this house
- Malayalam
- ഈ പുസ്തകങ്ങൾee pusthakangal
- English
- these books
- Malayalam
- ഈ സ്ത്രീകൾee sthreekal
- English
- these women
- Malayalam
- ഈ പേന (ഇവിടെ)ee pena (ivide)
- English
- this pen (here, not that one)
- Malayalam
- ആ പേന (അവിടെ)aa pena (avide)
- English
- that pen (there)