Gap-fill
Celui, celle, ceux, celles: choose the one you mean
Replace a repeated noun with celui, celle, ceux or celles. Read a book-club gap-fill and practise identifying the one you mean.
- B1
- 6 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
Celui, celle, ceux and celles replace a noun and mean “the one” or “the ones”. Match the missing noun’s gender and number, then identify it: le roman de Léa → celui de Léa, la revue que tu lis → celle que tu lis.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
| Noun being replaced | Pronoun | Complete phrase |
|---|---|---|
| le roman | celui | celui de Léa |
| la revue | celle | celle qui est ouverte |
| les films | ceux | ceux que tu recommandes |
| les affiches | celles | celles de la bibliothèque |
What comes after the pronoun?
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| de + owner | celui de Nora | Nora’s one |
| qui + verb | celle qui raconte une rencontre | the one that tells of a meeting |
| que + subject + verb | ceux que tu recommandes | the ones you recommend |
| dont + clause | celui dont tu parles | the one you are talking about |
| -ci / -là | celle-ci / celle-là | this one / that one |
Qui does the action in the relative clause; que receives it. Dont includes the link supplied by de: parler de ce roman → celui dont tu parles. Other descriptive complements work too: celui en bois identifies a wooden item. For a standalone choice, attach a suffix: Celui-ci me plaît.
Keep the noun in mind
Find:
When do you use celui, celle, ceux or celles?
The form follows the thing, not its owner: celui de Léa can refer to her novel, while celle de Malik can refer to his magazine. In the text, the book club has novels, magazines, films and posters to discuss. Fill each gap with one of the four plain forms.
Le choix du club de lecture
Au club, nous choisissons un roman. Léa apporte son livre et Malik apporte le sien. Je préfère (le roman) de Léa : il raconte une rencontre inattendue. Nous cherchons aussi une revue. Nous prenons (la revue) qui présente les nouveaux auteurs.
Pour la soirée cinéma, nous comparons plusieurs films. Nous retenons (les films) que tout le groupe veut voir. Les affiches sont prêtes : (les affiches) de la bibliothèque sont rouges, et (les affiches) du cinéma sont bleues. Malik revient au roman : « C’est (le roman) dont tu parlais hier ? »
Read it in English
At the club, we choose a novel. Léa brings her book and Malik brings his. I prefer Léa’s: it tells the story of an unexpected meeting. We also look for a magazine. We take the one that introduces new authors.
For film night, we compare several films. We keep the ones the whole group wants to see. The posters are ready: the library’s are red and the cinema’s are blue. Malik returns to the novel: “Is that the one you were talking about yesterday?”