Hello,
So, the demonstrative pronouns in French, if I'm not mistaken, are: celui, ceux, celle, celles
While in English, they're: this, these, that, those
But if I want to translate: That looks like the car I used to drive. in French, that's Cela ressemble à la voiture que je conduisais.
Why cela and not celle ?
So, when do you actually use the french demonstrative pronouns?
Bonjour Tibor,
See the examples below:
Celle-ci/là ressemble à... = This/That one looks like...
Cela/Ça ressemble à... = This/That/It looks like...
how-to-express-the-one-the-ones-celui-celle-ceux-and-celles
ca-means-that-this-or-it-pronoun
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !
That car is mine. -- Cette voiture est à moi. In this example, "that" and "car" go together, just as in French. You cannot have "cette" without "voiture". Think of it as an adjective. It needs to match the noun in gender and number.
Ce stylo ne marche pas. -- That pen doesn't work.
Cette table est un peu fragile. -- That table is a bit fragile.
Ces oranges sont fraîches. -- These oranges are fresh.
Look at those girls. The one that is running is Marie. -- Regarde ces filles. Celle qui court s'appelle Marie.
This example features both: in "those girls", you need the adjective form in its plural version (ces). In the second part you then use a demonstrative pronoun to refer to a particular girl among the group. Therefore you need the feminine singular version of the demonstrative pronoun: celle.
Summing up, you have these two groups to choose from:
Adjective version: ce/cette//ces (the same for masculine and feminine plural nouns)
Relative pronoun version: celui/celle//ceux/celles
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