French Demonstrative Adjectives

Overview

A demonstrative adjective is one of the words this, that, these and those used with a noun in English to point out a particular thing or person, for example, this woman, that dog. In French you use ce to point out a particular thing or person. Like all adjectives in French, ce changes its form depending on whether you are referring to a noun that is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Vocabulary

Countries, Nationalities and Languages

Back to the Course

Hi, you can review other topics from this course level.

Visit the Shop

Start classes with one of our professional teachers today.

Demonstrative Adjectives

A demonstrative adjective is a word used in English to express this, that, these, or those. Demonstrative adjectives are used before a noun and are determined by the gender and number of what the noun is. Below shows the chart of demonstrative adjectives and examples of how to use them.

Before a masculine noun (m)

Before a feminine noun (f)

Meaning

Singular (s)

cet (before a vowel)

cette

this / that

Plural (p)

ces

these / those

Examples:

Ce drapeau représente le Maroc. This flag represents Morocco.

J’aime cette idée. I like this idea.

*Christophe habite dans cet appartement. Christophe lives in this apartment.

Ces repas sont italiens. These meals are italian.

To be more precise of what noun is being referred to when using demonstrative adjectives, one can use -ci and -la to mean “here” and “there” respectively. It's as if someone was pointing to the noun being talked about. These will be added after the noun and connected with a hyphen.

Je prends ce bateau-là. I am taking that boat there.

Cette télévision-ci est chère. This television here is expensive.

Vous allez à cet hôpital-là ? You are going to that hospital there?

Elles préfèrent ces chaussures-ci. They prefer these shoes here.

Don't miss out!

Hi there, you are currently not signed in.

CORE Languages students who are signed in get credit for daily engagement while studying. Additionally, save your quiz and test grades by logging in. Even if you are just a language buff wanting to get a bit more studying in, Sign In and receive weekly content updates, access to Free PDF guides and special pricing on online training from our shop.

Additional Activities

Review the unit lesson above and complete additional activities to build your understanding of this topic. For the activities listed below, make sure you are signed in to keep track of your progress, to receive our weekly topics e-mail and special promotions! We are letting you know, you are not signed in. And progress will not be saved.

Learn French - Demonstrative Adjectives - Les adjectifs démonstratifs

Directions: Choose which demonstrative adjective should be used in each sentence. Remember to first identify the number and gender of the noun it is specifying. The gender of each noun is provided in parenthesis.