{"id":24632,"date":"2016-09-13T20:07:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T18:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=24632"},"modified":"2018-02-27T15:37:03","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T14:37:03","slug":"les-adjectifs-demostratifs-demonstrative-adjectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/les-adjectifs-demostratifs-demonstrative-adjectives\/","title":{"rendered":"Les Adjectifs D\u00e9mostratifs (Demonstrative Adjectives)"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are demonstrative adjectives, you may ask? While the term may sound scary, we use them all of the time. Demonstrative adjectives are adjectives that “demonstrate” or point out a particular noun. In English, these include\u00a0this<\/em>,\u00a0that<\/em>,\u00a0these<\/em>, and\u00a0those. <\/em>In French, there are only four\u00a0adjectifs d\u00e9monstratifs:<\/em>\u00a0ce<\/em>,\u00a0cet, cette,<\/em>\u00a0and ces.<\/em><\/p>\n

As with most adjectives in French, they must agree with the noun in number and gender. This explains the four different forms of\u00a0ce<\/em> that you see above. Depending on the context,\u00a0these can mean either “this” or “that.”<\/p>\n

Ce\u00a0<\/em>is the masculine singular form that is used directly before a noun that begins with a consonant.<\/p>\n

Cet\u00a0<\/em>is the masculine singular form that is used directly before a noun that begins with a vowel or a silent h.<\/p>\n

Cette<\/em> is the feminine singular form that is directly used before all feminine singular nouns.<\/p>\n

Ces\u00a0<\/em>is the plural form for both genders. (There is no\u00a0cettes\u00a0<\/em>form of the demonstrative adjective; it just doesn’t exist!)<\/p>\n

Let’s look at some examples:<\/p>\n

Prends\u00a0<\/em>cet<\/strong> argent.\u00a0<\/em>(Take this money.) Notice how the\u00a0cet\u00a0<\/em>is used because\u00a0argent<\/em> is a masculine noun that begins with a vowel.<\/p>\n

Ces<\/strong> livres sont tr\u00e8s interessants.\u00a0<\/em>(These books are very interesting.)<\/p>\n

Cette<\/strong> voiture est jolie!\u00a0<\/em>(That car is pretty!)<\/p>\n

Cet<\/strong> homme est tr\u00e8s intelligent.\u00a0<\/em>(That man is very intelligent.) Notice how\u00a0homme\u00a0<\/em>begins with a silent h (un h muet<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Ce<\/strong> texte est assez court.\u00a0<\/em>(This text is short enough.)<\/p>\n

Sounds easy, right? Demonstrative adjectives are pretty straightforward. However, there are still a couple of things to keep in mind:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. If you want to further specify which noun you are referring to, you can add –ci\u00a0<\/em>or –l\u00e0\u00a0<\/em>to the end of the demonstrative adjective. For example,\u00a0ceci\u00a0<\/em>est un stylo\u00a0<\/em>(this is a pen). If you are speaking about something farther away, instead of\u00a0-ci\u00a0<\/em>add\u00a0-l\u00e0.\u00a0<\/em>For example,\u00a0cel\u00e0 est un style\u00a0<\/em>(that–over there–is a pen).<\/li>\n
  2. Don’t get confused between\u00a0ces\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0ses\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0ce\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0se.\u00a0<\/em>This is hard, especially orally, because they sound exactly the same! \u00a0Se<\/em>\u00a0is a pronoun form included in reflexive verbs (for example,\u00a0il se demande<\/em>, means “he asks himself”).\u00a0Ses,\u00a0<\/em>on the other hand, is a plural possessive adjective meaning his or her\u00a0(for example,\u00a0il a pris ses livre avec lui\u00a0<\/em>means “he took\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>books with him”).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Can you think of a sentence in French that uses\u00a0one (or more!) of these demonstrative adjectives? If you want to make it even more complicated, include a –ci\u00a0<\/em>or –l\u00e0\u00a0<\/em>ending.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What are demonstrative adjectives, you may ask? While the term may sound scary, we use them all of the time. Demonstrative adjectives are adjectives that “demonstrate” or point out a particular noun. In English, these include\u00a0this,\u00a0that,\u00a0these, and\u00a0those. In French, there are only four\u00a0adjectifs d\u00e9monstratifs:\u00a0ce,\u00a0cet, cette,\u00a0and ces. As with most adjectives in French, they must agree…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[17,408489],"class_list":["post-24632","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","category-uncategorized","tag-adjectives","tag-demonstrative-adjectives"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t