Celui
French: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 8.3.16
'Celui' - this one, that one
Celui is used for replacing masculine demonstrative adjective and the noun that follows them. It cannot be used by itself, it can be used on three occasions.
With '-ci-' or '-là' attached to it
- With '-ci' added to it, it means 'this one'. With '-là' added to it, it means 'that one'.
- Quel garçon l'a fait, celui-ci ou celui-là?
- Which boy did it, this one or that one?
- Je ne sais pas si je veux celui-ci ou celui-là.
- I don't know if I want this one or that one.
Followed by a prepositional phrase
- Usually, these begin with 'de'.
- Quel film voulez-vous voir? Celui d'Espagne ou celui du Brésil?
- Which film do you want to watch? The one from Spain or the one from Brazil?
- Le seul vélo du village, c'était celui de mon frère.
- The only bike in the village was the one belonging to my brother.
- Lequel préférez-vous? Celui de droite ou celui de gauche?
- Which do you prefer? The one on the right or the one on the left?
Followed by a relative pronoun
- They are used before 'dont', 'qui' and 'que'.
- Celui dont c'est l'anniversaire.
- The one whose birthday it is.
- Il n'y a de pire sourd que celui qui ne veut entendre.
- There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.
- Celui que vous voulez.
- The one which you want.
Test yourself on Celui
Which of the following is a correct use of 'celui'?
How do you say 'that one' in French?