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Hajar
Is celui-la and ca used in the same way?
I know both celui-la and ca both mean "that" and I understand that celle-la is the feminine version of celui-la. However, I'm not sure what the difference is between "ca" and "celui-la/celle-la".
Jul 12, 2018 9:07 AM
Answers · 6
1
Hi Hajar,
>>>> "Ça" : means "that", is neutral (not feminine, not masculine), often used as a subject (but can be an object), and always used for things or concepts. You can not call a human "ça".
Examples : "ça va ?" ("that goes ?" = how is it going ?), "tu as vu ça ?" ("you have seen that?" = have you seen that ?), "ça sent bon" (that smells good) etc ...
>>>>"Celui-là" : means "that one", it is for male nouns (female would be "celle-là"), often used as an object (COD, COI), but can also be a subject. Is used both for things / concepts and humans. Often refers to an object you already mentionned.
Examples : "Ce chat est gentil, celui-là est méchant" (this cat is nice, that one is mean), "tu veux ce vélo ? non, je veux celui-là" (do you want this bike ? no, I want that one), "Que penses-tu de celui-là ?" (what do you think about that one ?).
Hope that helps. Feel free to message me if you have more questions about this topic ;)
Franck
July 13, 2018
1
"Ça" is neither masculine, nor feminine. It is neutral, and most often used as subject in a sentence : for exemple "ça ne veut rien dire", "ça sent mauvais", "qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ?", etc. "Celui-là" refers to someone, a man or a masculine noun : "donne-moi ce livre là bas. Non, pas celui-là, l'autre à droite". The same for "celle-là" (a woman or a feminine noun).
July 12, 2018
1
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July 12, 2018
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Hajar
Language Skills
Arabic, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Modern Standard), English, French
Learning Language
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