Demonstrative Pronouns

Let's talk about the demonstrative pronouns - ceci, cela, celui-ci, celui-là, as well as celui and its variations.

Ceci, Cela

Rule 1: Ceci and cela are pronouns that are mostly used to indicate something that is being pointed out or referred to. Both frequently refer to situations rather than to specific nouns.
Ceci means “this”, while cela means “that”.

Rule 2: When referring to a notion, ceci introduces the notion whereas cela refers to an idea already mentioned.

Rule 3: In everyday, less formal speech, cela is commonly replaced with ça.

Celui, Celle, Ceux, Celles

Rule 4: The demonstrative pronouns (celui, celle, ceux, celles) replace a noun and agree in gender and number with it. They never stand alone, but are followed by:

- a preposition (de, pour, ...)

- a relative sentence

Celui-ci, Celui-là

Rule 5: We can take the previous demonstrative pronouns (celui, celle, ceux, celles) and add -ci or -là to indicate the distance (temporal or spatial) between the speaker and the noun replaced.

- If something is spatially or temporally close, we use -ci

- If something is more distant in space or time, we use -là