Learn French: Le spécialiste est celui qui identifie les champignons. - The specialist is the one who identifies the mushrooms.

Le spécialiste est celui qui identifie les champignons.

The specialist is the one who identifies the mushrooms.

Breakdown of Le spécialiste est celui qui identifie les champignons.

the one (masculine singular)

Questions & Answers about Le spécialiste est celui qui identifie les champignons.

How do we translate "the one" in this sentence?

In English we say "the one", but you cannot translate this literally into French as le un. Instead, you must use a demonstrative pronoun. Celui is the masculine singular demonstrative pronoun, and when paired with qui, it means "the one who" or "he who".

Why is it celui and not celle or ceux?

Demonstrative pronouns must match the gender and number of the noun they replace. Here, "the one" refers back to le spécialiste, which is a masculine singular noun. If we were talking about a female specialist (la spécialiste), we would use the feminine singular pronoun and say celle qui.

Why do we use qui and not que after celui?

You use qui when the pronoun is the subject of the following verb. In this sentence, "the one" is the person performing the action of identifying the mushrooms. If "the one" was the object of the action instead—like in "the one that I bought" (celui que j'ai acheté)—you would use que.

Why does the sentence use les in les champignons instead of des?