French Demonstrative Adjective

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2022-12-13

See also: Adjectif and Adjective Types

Demonstrative adjectives specify a particular noun or group of nouns among a larger group.

The English demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these and those, and the French demonstrative adjectives are ce, cet, cette and ces.

However, even though there are four of each, there's no one-to-one equivalence between them.

1. Ce means "this" or "that" with a masculine noun
2. Cette means "this" or "that" with a feminine noun
3. Cet means "this" or "that" in front of a noun (or adjective) that begins with a vowel or mute h
4. Ces means "these" or "those" with plural nouns

For example

J'aime ce film. - I like this movie.

Il m'a acheté cette chemise. - He bought me this shirt.