French demonstrative adjectives: ce, cet, cette, ces

Je connais ce garçon et cette fille.I know this boy and this girl.

A French demonstrative adjective points at a specific noun — this or that. It comes before the noun and matches its gender and number, just like the article.

Quick shortcut: ce (masculine), cette (feminine), ces (plural), plus cet for a masculine word starting with a vowel sound. They all mean this or that.

The four forms

• ce livre, ce garçon, ce problème
• cette femme, cette voiture, cette idée
• ces livres, ces femmes, ces enfants

ces is the only plural form — it works for both genders, like les, des and mes.

cet before a vowel sound

Before a masculine singular noun that begins with a vowel or a mute h, ce becomes cet, so the two words link smoothly:

• ✅ cet homme, cet arbre, cet hôtel, cet ami
• ❌ ce homme, ❌ ce arbre

cet is still masculine — it is just a spoken-friendly form of ce, the same idea as mon amie or un bel arbre. It has nothing to do with the feminine.

cet and cette sound exactly the same (/sɛt/). The difference only shows up in writing, so check the noun's gender: cet ami (m), cette amie (f).

One word for this and that

French does not separate this from that by default. ce livre is this book or that book, and the situation makes it clear.

When you really need to mark the contrast, add -ci (near) or -là (far) to the noun with a hyphen:

• ce livre-ci (this book here) vs ce livre-là (that book there)
• cette semaine-ci vs cette semaine-là

In everyday speech, -là is often added with no real "far" meaning, just to point: ce truc-là.

Common mistakes

• ❌ ce homme → ✅ cet homme (masculine + vowel sound)
• ❌ cette homme → ✅ cet homme (cet is masculine, not feminine)
• ❌ cet livre → ✅ ce livre (cet only before a vowel sound)
• ❌ ce femme → ✅ cette femme
• ❌ ce enfants → ✅ ces enfants (plural → ces)
• ❌ cets / cettes → ✅ ces (there is only one plural form)

Quick check

Choose ce, cet, cette or ces.

1. ____ livre (m)
2. ____ homme (m)
3. ____ voiture (f)
4. ____ arbres (pl)
5. ____ école (f)

Key takeaways

• Demonstratives come before the noun and match its gender and number: ce, cette, ces.
• cet replaces ce before a masculine word starting with a vowel sound or mute h (cet homme, cet hôtel) — it is still masculine.
• cet and cette sound the same; only the writing shows the gender.
• ces is the single plural form for both genders.
• One form means this or that; add -ci / -là to the noun to make near vs far explicit.