ce

/sə/
this, that

Ce livre est intéressant.

This book is interesting.


general

Masculine demonstrative determiner before a consonant: this, that.

Ce livre est intéressant.

This book is interesting.

Forms: ce (masc. + consonant), cet (masc. + vowel), cette (fem.), ces (plural).

general

Demonstrative pronoun used with être: this is, that is, it is.

C'est mon frère.

This is my brother.

Ce sont mes amis.

These are my friends.

C'est is invariable: always ce + est, never elle est for identifying things.

Collocations

c'estit is, this isce sontthese are, those are

Word Origin

From Latin ecce (behold) + iste (this).

Usage Notes

Ce + noun needs -ci or -là to mark this vs that: ce livre-ci (this book), ce livre-là (that book).

Dictionnaire Français-Anglais