Ce scooter est électrique, mais je préfère celui-là.

Questions & Answers about Ce scooter est électrique, mais je préfère celui-là.

Why does the sentence use Ce at the beginning but celui-là at the end?
Ce is a demonstrative adjective meaning "this" or "that", and it must always be followed by a noun (like Ce scooter). celui-là is a demonstrative pronoun. It replaces the noun entirely so you don't have to repeat the word scooter, translating here to "that one".
How do I know whether to use celui, celle, or another form here?
Demonstrative pronouns must match the gender and number of the noun they are replacing. Because it replaces scooter, which is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular form celui. If we were talking about a car (une voiture, feminine), it would be celle-là.
What exactly does the -là attached to celui mean?
The suffix -là implies "there". When attached to a demonstrative pronoun, it points to something further away, translating to "that one". If you wanted to say "this one" (pointing to a scooter closer to you), you would use the suffix -ci, making it celui-ci.
I noticed the accent changes in préfère. Why is that?
Préférer is a stem-changing verb. In the infinitive, it uses an acute accent (é). But when conjugated with a silent ending, like the -e for je, the second accent changes to a grave accent (è) so the syllable can be pronounced with an open "eh" sound: je préfère.

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