celui

Celui is a French demonstrative pronoun used to refer to a specific noun already mentioned or understood from context. It translates roughly as “the one” or “this/that one” and functions as a substitute for the noun rather than modifying it directly. The form agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural).

Basic forms are: masculine singular celui, feminine singular celle, masculine plural ceux, feminine plural celles. To indicate proximity or distance, French also uses ci and là: celui-ci, celui-là, celle-ci, celle-là, ceux-ci, ceux-là, celles-ci, celles-là. These fused forms are commonly used to point to specific items or persons in discourse without repeating the noun.

Celui is frequently used in relative clauses and other constructions that connect to a noun without repeating it: celui qui vient, celui que j’ai vu, celui dont tu parles, celui auquel elle pense. It may also stand after prepositions (à celui qui, de celui dont, avec celui-ci) and can be used in comparisons or selections among several nouns. The feminine and plural counterparts function similarly: celle qui, celles qui; ceux qui, celles qui; with ci/ là as appropriate.

Note that celui and its forms are pronouns, not determiners. They replace a noun rather than directly modifying it; for direct reference to a noun, one uses the demonstrative determiner ce/cet/ cette (ce livre, cet homme, cette idée). In practice, lequel and related forms may appear in more formal or complex constructions, but celui remains the standard substitute in everyday French.