Log inSign up

Mon frère paie les scooters électriques, ceux-là.

Mon frère paie les scooters électriques, ceux-là.
My brother is paying for the electric scooters, those over there.
From Lesson 103:Demonstrative pronouns (celui, celle...)·French

Questions & Answers about Mon frère paie les scooters électriques, ceux-là.

Why do we use ceux-là instead of celles-là?
Ceux-là is the masculine plural form of the demonstrative pronoun (meaning "those"). We use it because it replaces les scooters, which is a masculine plural noun. If he were paying for feminine things, like les voitures (the cars), we would use celles-là.
What does the -là part do at the end of ceux-là?
The suffix -là means "there", while -ci means "here". In this sentence, ceux-là specifically points out "those over there" to make it clear which scooters he is paying for. If he were paying for the ones right next to him, he would say ceux-ci.
Why is the verb spelled paie here instead of paye?
The infinitive verb is payer (to pay). For French verbs ending in -ayer, you can change the y to an i in most present tense forms. Both mon frère paie and mon frère paye are perfectly correct and mean the same thing, but paie is very common in written French.
Why is it les scooters électriques rather than les électriques scooters?
Unlike in English, most French adjectives come after the noun they describe. This is especially true for technical categories like électriques (electric). Also, notice that électriques has an s at the end so it matches the plural noun scooters!

Learn Mon frère paie les scooters électriques, ceux-là and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →