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A2 · Pronouns · Published
Celui, Celle, Ceux, Celles
Celui, celle, ceux and celles are the French demonstrative pronouns — the words for "the one" and "the ones". Each replaces a noun already mentioned and copies its gender and number: celui masculine singular, celle feminine singular, ceux masculine plural, celles feminine plural.
Celui de gauche. Celle qui chante. Ceux-là.
One habit governs them all: in everyday French, these four never stand bare. Something has to complete them — -ci or -là, de + an owner, or a relative clause.
In short
- The set: celui (m sg), celle (f sg), ceux (m pl), celles (f pl) — agreeing with the noun they replace.
- Always add a tail: -ci / -là (celui-ci = this one), de + owner (celle de Marie = Marie’s), or a clause with qui / que (ceux que tu connais).
- For a whole idea instead of a noun, switch to the neuter set: ce, ceci, cela, ça.
demonstrative pronoun-ci / -làde + ownerrelative clause· hover a highlighted word for its label
Four forms, copied from the replaced noun
The pronoun’s shape comes entirely from the noun it stands for — say vélo (masculine) and "the one" is celui; say clés (feminine plural) and it is celles. Before a noun that is still present, you need ce / cette instead — ce livre, but celui-ci once livre is dropped; that word family lives on the demonstrative adjectives page.
| Replaced noun | Pronoun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | celui | le train → celui de 8 h |
| feminine singular | celle | la veste → celle que je porte |
| masculine plural | ceux | les gâteaux → ceux-ci |
| feminine plural | celles | les photos → celles de Léo |
The never-alone rule
- In everyday French, celui / celle / ceux / celles never stand bare — a tail completes them.
- Tail 1: -ci or -là — celui-ci, celles-là.
- Tail 2: de + owner — celui de Marie, ceux du voisin.
- Tail 3: a relative clause — celle qui parle, ceux que tu connais.
- Formal written French also accepts a participle or prepositional phrase as the tail: ceux ayant réservé, celles en promotion.
Tail 1: -ci and -là — this one, that one
-ci points to the nearer option, -là to the farther one — though everyday speech reaches for -là most of the time, near or far. In formal writing, celui-ci also means "the latter" (the nearer mention) and celui-là "the former".
Which cake do you want? — This one, with the chocolate icing.
— Celui stands for gâteau (masculine singular); -ci picks the near one.
I like these glasses, but those suit me better.
— celles is feminine plural like lunettes; -là points at the far pair.
Tail 2: de + owner — Marie’s, the neighbor’s
English pins an ’s on the owner; French keeps the pronoun and follows it with de: celui de Marie, literally "the one of Marie". With le and les, the preposition contracts as usual: ceux du voisin, celles des enfants.
My bike has a flat, so I borrowed my sister’s.
— celui agrees with vélo, not with the owner; de ma sœur does the job of the English ’s.
Our apple trees give hardly any fruit; the neighbor’s are sagging under the apples.
— Plural pommiers calls for ceux; de + le contracts into du voisin.
Tail 3: a relative clause — the one who, the ones that
The third tail is a clause opened by qui (the pronoun does the next verb’s action) or que (a new subject follows) — the same choice as on the qui vs que page.
Of all the songs, my favorite is the one that opens the album.
— celle matches chanson; qui is the subject of the clause.
Out of all my colleagues, the ones you already know are coming tonight.
— After ceux, the subject tu follows que — an object relative.
The neuter set: ce, ceci, cela, ça
When "this" or "that" points at a whole idea or situation rather than a countable noun, French drops the four-form system and goes neuter. Ce survives almost only before être — c’est, ce sont — a construction with its own rules on c’est vs il est. Elsewhere the choice is register: ça rules conversation, cela is its written and formal counterpart, and cela dit ("that said") is a fixed connector worth memorizing. Ceci is rarer and mostly announces what comes next: écoutez bien ceci…
Don’t worry, it will sort itself out.
— ça points at the whole situation — there is no specific noun behind it.
Common mistakes
✗Tu as aimé celui film ?
✓Tu as aimé ce film ?
Celui stands in place of a noun, never in front of one. When the noun is still there, use the demonstrative adjective ce.
✗Ces deux sacs me plaisent, mais je préfère celui.
✓Ces deux sacs me plaisent, mais je préfère celui-ci.
In everyday French the pronoun cannot stand bare — it needs a tail: celui-ci, celui-là, celui de gauche…
✗Mon téléphone est cassé, alors j’utilise celle de mon frère.
✓Mon téléphone est cassé, alors j’utilise celui de mon frère.
The pronoun agrees with the noun it replaces — téléphone, masculine — not with the owner that follows de.
Check yourself
1 / 3Quelle veste prends-tu ? — ___, avec la capuche.
2 / 3Ces clés ne sont pas les miennes, ce sont ___ de ma mère.
3 / 3Il pleut depuis trois jours et ___ me déprime.
Frequently asked questions
What do celui, celle, ceux and celles mean?
They mean "the one" and "the ones". The form copies the gender and number of the noun it replaces: celui (masculine singular), celle (feminine singular), ceux (masculine plural), celles (feminine plural) — celui de Marie, celles que tu portes.
What is the difference between celui-ci and celui-là?
Celui-ci points to the nearer option ("this one") and celui-là to the farther one ("that one"), though spoken French uses -là for most cases. In formal writing, celui-ci also means "the latter" and celui-là "the former".
Should I say ça, cela or ceci?
Ça and cela mean the same "that / it": ça belongs to conversation (ça va, ça m’énerve), cela to careful writing (cela m’inquiète, cela dit). Ceci is rarer and usually announces something about to be said: retenez ceci…
Memory tip
Think of celui as a head without a body: choose the head from the replaced noun’s gender and number (celui, celle, ceux, celles), then attach a body — -ci / -là, de + owner, or a qui / que clause.
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