celui-ci etc...

[gert]

hello clever french speakers,

i`m doing ok at the language but have a little matter bothering me at present, could somebody clarify for me when it is appropriate to use the following;

celui-ci, celui-la, ceci,cela,celles-ci,ceux-ci,ceux-la,celles-la, etc...................................

you get the idea? these little words are driving me mad!!!

please help me!!!!

 

[CatherineS2]

celui-ci - this one (male)
celle-ci - this one (female) 

celui-la - that one (m)
celle-la - that one (f)

ceci - this

cela - that

ceux-ci - these ones (m)
celles-ci - these ones (f)

ceux-la - those ones (m)
celles-la - those ones (f)

Hope this helps!

[la bezarderie]

Thank you so much for that, I've printed it off for myself and a friend.

[Lori]

Thanks Catherine - that one was bugging me too.

 

[Alcazar]

Like everything, it's easy once committed to memory and in use.

NOW will someone tell me how to remember what gender nouns are? Some seem to have neither rhyme nor reason.

Alcazar

[gert]

thankyou so much, i am eternally grateful!!!!

[Ron Avery]

[quote]Like everything, it's easy once committed to memory and in use. NOW will someone tell me how to remember what gender nouns are? Some seem to have neither rhyme nor reason. Alcazar[/quote]

"NOW will someone tell me how to remember what gender nouns are? Some seem to have neither rhyme nor reason".

Very very rough guide from "How to be fluent in French after reading this book for three months"   Nouns ending in " e" are  more than likely to be feminine.  BUT there are many exceptions and oddities

The one I love is: The shirt = La Chemise :

The blouse= Le chemisier

But at least it follows the "e" rule

[Tourangelle]

Can I just put my English teacher's hat on and say that 'these ONES' and 'those ONES' is INCORRECT ENGLISH. These and those are to be used on their own.

Otherwise, bear in mind that that celui-ci etc can be used to refer to people.

Example

J'ai eu la visite de ma belle mère et de mon beau-frère, celui-ci était malade

My mother in law and my brother in law came to see me, the latter was ill

Also in sentences like

Elle est bavarde, celle-là

She is talkative (?that one) which we wouldn't necessarily say in English, but if you listen out, the French do it all the time!!!!

Gender of nouns. Impossible, you just have to learn them.

BUT, pretty much everything that end -tion is feminin. -eur is often feminin too, la longeur, la blancheur. But there are exceptions, le bonheur

-ie also often feminin, la ceremonie, la téléphonie, la manie, la drogerie, la boulangerie.

-ment is masculin, le changement, l'agencement, le contournement

-ité is feminin, la félicité, la cité, la mixité

-isme is masculin, le tourisme, le réalisme, and my favourite, le féminisme.

Of course you may find one or two exceptions to these, but generally they work

[Lori]

Another oddity among so many is the fact that a certain female organ  le v_ _ _ n is masculine.   Sorry, just had to add that...

[Tillergirl]

Nouns Genders,

Here are a couple tips a tutor gave me.

If it ends in -age it will be masculine the only three exceptions being: image

                                                                                             plage

                                                                                             page

Ends in -tion without exception (apparently) masculine. 

Hope this helps.

[bizzyliz]

I think you'll find, as Tourangelle pointed out, that -tion is a feminine ending; -ation is certainly feminine (nation, natation, etc.) Other endings usually feminine are -ade, -ance, ère, and erie (names of shops, such as la boulangerie, la charcuterie, l'épicerie, etc.)

One or two other endings that are normally masculine are -eau (except for l'eau), -ier, -in (but not la fin) and -ing (le poing, etc.) But the only real answer is to learn the gender when you learn the word!