French Demonstrative Pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles

Celui, celle, ceux and celles mean the one and the ones. They replace a noun you have already named and agree with it. They never stand alone: something always follows to say which one.

Three things usually follow:

The four forms

The pronoun takes the gender and number of the noun it replaces, not of anything else in the sentence.

• mon livre et celui de Pierre - my book and Pierre's
• ma voiture et celle de mon frère - my car and my brother's
• mes amis et ceux de ma sœur - my friends and my sister's
• mes clés et celles de ma mère - my keys and my mother's

The noun decides, so check its gender: la photo gives celle, le problème gives celui.

Do not confuse them with the adjectives ce, cet, cette and ces, which sit in front of a noun. ce livre (this book) points at the noun; celui-ci (this one) replaces it. The adjectives are on French demonstratives.

Celui on its own is unfinished. Je veux celui. is not French; say Je veux celui-ci. - I want this one.

celui-ci, celui-là: this one, that one

Add -ci (near) or -là (further off) with a hyphen, the same split as ce livre-ci and ce livre-là.

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1. 1celle-ci
2. 2celle-là

Two cups (une tasse, feminine): celle-ci (this one) right by the speaker, celle-là (that one) far away on the hill.

• Quel sac ? - Celui-là. - Which bag? That one.
• Je prends celle-ci, pas celle-là. - I'll take this one, not that one.
• Ces gâteaux-là sont bons, mais ceux-ci sont meilleurs. - Those cakes are good, but these ones are better.

In everyday speech -là does most of the pointing, near or not. In writing the pair also means the latter (celui-ci, the one just mentioned) and the former (celui-là).

celui de: the one belonging to

French has no possessive 's. celui de + a noun does that job: the one of, the one belonging to.

• le bureau de Claire et celui de Pierre - Claire's desk and Pierre's
• Ma valise est plus lourde que celle de ma mère. - My case is heavier than my mother's.
• mes chaussures et celles de ma sœur - my shoes and my sister's
• Ce n'est pas mon problème, c'est celui de mon frère. - It's not my problem, it's my brother's.

de also gives a place or a side: celle de gauche - the one on the left.

celui qui, celui que, celui dont

A relative clause can finish the pronoun: the one who, the one that, the one which. The relative pronoun follows its usual rules from French relative pronouns.

• Ceux qui arrivent en retard attendront dehors. - Those who arrive late will wait outside.
• De tous ces films, celui que je préfère, c'est le dernier. - Of all these films, the one I prefer is the last.
• La photo dont tu parles, c'est celle qui est sur le mur ? - The photo you're talking about, is it the one on the wall?

Ceux qui (those who) is worth learning as a block; it opens sentences constantly in writing.

ceci, cela, ça: no noun behind them

When there is no noun to replace, only an idea, a situation or a thing you have not named, French uses the neuter forms. They never change and never take -ci or -là.

ça is cela worn down for speech, and it is everywhere: Ça va ? (How are you?), C'est ça. (That's right.), Ça m'énerve. (That annoys me.) The choice is register, not meaning:

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Compare two things you own with someone else's: Mon sac est plus grand que celui de...
2. Point at three things in a shop: celui-ci, celle-là, ceux-ci.
3. Next, the possessive pronouns: le mien, le tien.