démonstratif

Démonstratif is a French word that primarily functions as an adjective and a pronoun. As an adjective, it is used to point out or specify a person or thing, similar to "this," "that," "these," or "those" in English. For example, "ce livre" translates to "this book" or "that book." The demonstrative adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Common forms include ce (masculine singular), cet (masculine singular before a vowel or silent h), cette (feminine singular), and ces (plural for both genders).

As a pronoun, démonstratif refers back to a noun or a phrase previously mentioned, serving to identify or emphasize it. For instance, "C'est lui" means "It is he" or "That's him." In this usage, the demonstrative pronoun also varies in form to match the gender and number of what it represents. There are also neutral demonstrative pronouns like "ce" (often appearing in constructions like "ce qui" meaning "what" or "that which") and "ça" (an informal equivalent of "cela" meaning "that"). The demonstrative pronouns can be further specified by adding suffixes like -ci (here) or -là (there) to indicate proximity or distance, such as "celui-ci" (this one) or "celle-là" (that one).