Breakdown of Tu as besoin d'un pinceau pour finir celui-ci.
un
a / an (masculine)
tu
you (informal singular)
pour
for
finir
to finish
avoir besoin de
to need
celui
the one (masculine singular)
ci
this, these (demonstrative suffix)
le pinceau
the paintbrush
Questions & Answers about Tu as besoin d'un pinceau pour finir celui-ci.
The lesson says object pronouns go before the infinitive. Why does celui-ci go after finir?
The rule about putting the pronoun before the verb applies to short pronoun words like le, la, les, me, and te. For example, "to finish it" would be pour le finir. But celui-ci (this one) is a heavier demonstrative pronoun that acts like a regular noun, so it stays in the normal object position after the verb.
Why does the sentence use d'un instead of just un?
Doesn't the infinitive finir already mean "to finish"? Why do we need pour?
When the English word "to" actually means "in order to" (expressing a purpose or goal), French uses pour followed by the infinitive. Because you need the paintbrush in order to finish the task, you must say pour finir.
How does celui-ci translate to "this one"?
Learn Tu as besoin d'un pinceau pour finir celui-ci 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