Demonstrative Pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles
தனி சுட்டுப்பெயர்கள்: celui, celle, ceux, celles
You already learned ce/cet/cette/ces as demonstrative adjectives sitting in front of a noun (ce livre, 'this book'). Now the noun disappears and the pointing word stands alone — 'this one', 'that one' — and it still has to agree in gender and number with whatever it's replacing.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
Four forms, agreeing with the noun replaced
J'aime ce livre-ci, pas celui-là. (I like this book, not that one)
எனக்கு இந்தப் புத்தகம் பிடிக்கும், அது இல்லை. (celui = ஆண்பால் ஒருமை 'அது/இது')
celui (masc. sg.), celle (fem. sg.), ceux (masc. pl.), celles (fem. pl.) never appear alone — French doesn't allow a bare 'the one', it must be followed by -ci/-là, de + noun, or a relative clause (qui/que). Tamil has no separate word class for this; அது/இது already does double duty as both adjective and pronoun, so remembering that celui MUST agree with the noun it stands in for (not with the speaker or anything else) is the main new habit.
-ci and -là: pointing near vs. far
celui-ci (this one, near) / celui-là (that one, far)
இது (அருகில்) / அது (தூரத்தில்)
Attach -ci for something close (physically or in the conversation) and -là for something farther away — this maps quite directly onto Tamil's இது/அது distance distinction. -ci/-là can also contrast two options already mentioned: celui-ci... celui-là... ('the former... the latter...').
celui de + noun = possession, no repeating the noun
Ma voiture est plus rapide que celle de Paul. (My car is faster than Paul's — literally 'that of Paul')
என் காரு பாலின் காரைவிட வேகமாக இருக்கு. (celle de Paul = 'பாலுடையது')
Instead of repeating the noun (celle de Paul rather than la voiture de Paul again), French swaps in the matching demonstrative pronoun plus de. This is a very common way to avoid repetition and reads naturally where English uses a possessive ('Paul's') and Tamil would just add a possessive marker to பால் (பாலுடையது).
celui qui / celui que + relative clause
Prends celui qui te plaît. (Take the one that you like)
உனக்குப் பிடித்ததை எடுத்துக்கொள். (celui qui/que = 'எது...வோ அது')
celui/celle/ceux/celles can be followed directly by a relative clause with qui (subject) or que (object) instead of -ci/-là or de. This combination — 'the one that...' — is extremely common in spoken French for pointing at something defined by a description rather than by physical distance.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| French | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| celui | suh-LWEE | அது/இது (ஆண்பால் ஒருமை)adhu/idhu (āṇpāl oruṃai) | this one / that one (masc. sg.) |
| celle | sell | அது/இது (பெண்பால் ஒருமை)adhu/idhu (peṇpāl oruṃai) | this one / that one (fem. sg.) |
| ceux | suh | அவை/இவை (ஆண்பால் பன்மை)avai/ivai (āṇpāl paṉmai) | these / those (masc. pl.) |
| celles | sell | அவை/இவை (பெண்பால் பன்மை)avai/ivai (peṇpāl paṉmai) | these / those (fem. pl.) |
| celui-ci / celui-là | suh-lwee-SEE / suh-lwee-LAH | இது / அதுidhu / adhu | this one (here) / that one (there) |
| celui de... | suh-LWEE duh | ...உடையது...uḍaiyadhu | the one belonging to... |