
Demonstrative adjectives
The demonstrative adjectives in English
are:
this, these (closer by)
that, those (farther away)
Since they are adjectives, they are followed by a noun: this book is mine, these dogs are cute.
In French they are: ce, cet, cette, ces
ce before a masculine singular noun:
Je voudrais ce
livre (I want this/that book)
cet before a masculine singular
noun that begins with a vowel of a "mute h."
Qui est cet
homme? (Who is this/that man?)
cette before a feminine signular noun
Cette
fille est ma soeur! (This/that girl is my sister)
ces before all plural nous.
Ces
garçons sont dans la classe. (These/those boys are in the class)
Ces
filles sont ici. (These/those girls are here)
To distinguish between the one closer by
(this, these), French adds -ci after the noun.
Thus:
Ce garçon-ci
est mon frère (This boy is my brother)
Ces filles-ci
sont petites (These girls are little)
To distinguish between the ones further away (that, those), French adds -là after the noun. Thus:
Ce
garçon-là est mon frère (That
boy is my brother)
Ces filles-là
sont petites (Those girls are little)