There seems to be a mistake in this lesson

Diego B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

There seems to be a mistake in this lesson

Note: when they are both used, ceci usually refers to the 'former' and cela the 'latter' idea.


It is the other way round, I think.

Asked 4 years ago
Shrey R.A1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Bonjour à tous !

If you view Madame Cécile’s answer in the following link then she states that “ if you have 'this' and 'that' , 'ceci' will always be the first example and 'cela' the second.”

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/questions/view/query-regarding-ceci-cela-ca#Answer-10450

So, ceci should be the first one “faire les devoirs” and cela, the second one “dormir”

Shrey R.A1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Bonjour !

I think the error is in the example which corresponds to this rule ->

Faire mes devoirs ou dormir, je préfère ceci plutôt que cela.

Doing my homework or sleeping, I prefer this rather than that.

Here, ‘ceci’ should be associated with the former option- Faire mes devoirs and ‘cela’ with the latter idea - Dormir.

Earlier, I had reported via “Report Issue” button but it seems no correction has been made.

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I think Diego is correct, ceci should be "the latter". Every other source seems to define ceci /cela in that way. Also, in the example, it's natural to assume that I prefer sleeping to doing homework. Note that dormir and ceci are highlighted in bold to show that they correspond.

I wonder if the example has already been changed - didn't it used to say "the latter" rather than "this"? It doesn't really make sense now, there's no way in English to know what is meant by "this" and "that".

Diego B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

My reasoning is that "ceci" points to the "closest" option (the latter), and "cela" to the furthest option (the former), as in proximity within the phrase.

Agreed with Alan that "this" and "that" don't really make sense for this particular sentence.

Lami l.A2Kwiziq community member

Has this been corrected in the lesson? It's quite confusing.

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Yes, the lesson is correct now.

Diego B. asked:

There seems to be a mistake in this lesson

Note: when they are both used, ceci usually refers to the 'former' and cela the 'latter' idea.


It is the other way round, I think.

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Getting that for you now...