French Grammar in Context

c The neutral pronouns ceci, celaand çamay notbe used to refer to a specific noun or, indeed,

to people. They can only refer to things which do not have a gender, e.g. facts, statements,

states of affairs and events, e.g. pour cela(line 9), which stands for pour qu’elles puissent

produire advantage.

Formation

The forms of the demonstrative pronoun are:

singular plural

masc. celui ceux

fem. celle celles

neutral ceci, cela, ça, ce ____

Other points to note in the text

• Relative pronouns: qui(line 11, etc.); ce qui(line 15); lesquelles(line 23); où(line 34); ce qu’
  (line 38) (see Chapter 11)


• Positive imperatives + pronouns: Préparez-vous(lines 1); Demandez-le (lines 61); renvoyez-le
  (line 64) (see Chapter 19)


• Emphasis: Ce qui.. ., c’est que(lines 15–16); ces techniques, vous pouvez les apprendre(lines
  27–8); une vie plus agréable, ... tout cela (lines 53–5) (see Chapter 31)


• Use of de(instead of indefinite article) after a negative: pas de formation (line 21); pas de
  diplômes (line 24) (see Chapter 13)


• Comparatives and superlatives: ceux qui gagnent le plus (heading); le problème le plus
  important(lines 5–6); une vie plus agréable, un intérieur plus confortable(lines 53–4) (see
  Chapter 18)


• Future tense: serez(line 33); apprendrez(lines 38, 43); découvrirez(line 40); dépendront
  (line 52) (see Chapter 6)

Discover more about demonstratives

1 DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES

a The form cetis used before masculine singular words which begin with a vowel or a mute ‘h’,

e.g. cet appartement, cet ancien bâtiment, cet homme. Note that there is only onefeminine

singular form: cette, e.g. cette fleur, cette île, cette huile. Do not be tempted to use the masculine

form cetbefore feminine words which begin with a vowel or mute ‘h’.

b The form -cican be added to the noun which is accompanied by a demonstrative adjective if

you wish to stress the idea of closeness in either space or time, e.g. cette année-ci(= this year);

ce livre-ci(= this book). Similarly the form -làcan be added to the noun if you wish to stress

the idea of distance, e.g. cette année-là(= that year); ce livre-là(= that book). It is necessary to

use these forms if a comparison is being made, e.g. Préférez-vous ce modèle-ci ou ce modèle-là?

(= Do you prefer this style or that style?)

90 French Grammar in Context