Cette copie peut servir de preuve.

Because copie is a feminine singular noun.

French demonstratives agree with the noun:

• ce = masculine singular
• cet = masculine singular before a vowel sound
• cette = feminine singular
• ces = plural

So:

• ce document
• cet article
• cette copie
• ces copies

Since copie is feminine, cette is required.

You usually learn the gender together with the noun: une copie.

There is not always a perfect rule, but many nouns ending in -ie are feminine, and copie is one of them. That is why you get:

• cette copie
• la copie
• une copie

not ce copie or un copie.

Peut is the third-person singular form of pouvoir in the present tense.

The subject is Cette copie, which is singular and equivalent to it / this copy, so French uses the third-person singular:

• je peux = I can
• tu peux = you can
• il/elle/on peut = he/she/it/one can

So Cette copie peut... means This copy can...

Because pouvoir is a modal verb, like can in English. It is followed by another verb in the infinitive.

Here:

• peut = can
• servir = serve

So the structure is:

subject + pouvoir + infinitive

Examples:

• Cette copie peut servir...
• Il peut venir.
• Nous pouvons partir.

This works very much like English can + base verb.

Servir de means to serve as.

So:

• servir de preuve = to serve as proof
• servir de base = to serve as a basis
• servir de modèle = to serve as a model

This is a very common pattern in French:

servir de + noun

It expresses the role or function of something.

Because servir de and servir à mean different things.

• servir de + noun = to serve as
• servir à + infinitive / noun = to be used for, to help with

So in this sentence, the copy is acting as proof, so French uses de:

• Cette copie peut servir de preuve.

Compare:

• Ce couteau sert à couper le pain. = This knife is used for cutting bread.
• Cette boîte sert de table. = This box serves as a table.

In the expression servir de + noun, French often omits the article when the noun describes a function, role, or category.

So:

• servir de preuve
• servir de base
• servir d’exemple
• servir de référence

This is similar to saying as proof rather than as a proof.

If you add an article, the meaning can become more specific or less natural in this structure, depending on context. In this sentence, de preuve is the most idiomatic form.

You may hear comme in some contexts, but servir de preuve is the standard and most natural phrasing here.

French strongly prefers:

• servir de preuve

rather than:

• servir comme preuve

So for a learner, servir de + noun is the safer and more idiomatic pattern to use.

Not exactly, although translations often overlap.

Preuve usually means proof or evidence depending on context. It often suggests something that supports or establishes a fact.

In legal or formal contexts, English might use either proof or evidence, while French commonly uses preuve.

So in this sentence, preuve is perfectly natural, and English could translate it as either:

• This copy can serve as proof
• This copy can serve as evidence

depending on context.

Copie usually means copy: a duplicate of a document, file, or text.

Depending on context, copie can also mean things like:

• an exam paper
• a student’s written work
• a backup copy
• a photocopy

In Cette copie peut servir de preuve, it most likely means some kind of document copy or duplicate record that can be used as proof.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

set ko-pee puh servir duh preuv

A more French-like approximation is:

/sɛt kɔ.pi pø sɛʁ.viʁ də pʁœv/

A few useful points:

• cette sounds like set
• copie sounds like ko-pee
• peut is pronounced pø; the final t is silent
• servir ends with a French r
• preuve has the French eu sound, which English speakers often find difficult

Not in the same way.

Cette copie directly modifies the noun copie and means this copy.

• cette copie = this copy

Ceci and cela are pronouns, not determiners. They replace a whole thing or idea rather than directly introducing a noun.

So you can say:

• Cette copie peut servir de preuve.

But not:

• Ceci copie...

If you wanted a pronoun, you would need a different structure, such as:

• Ceci peut servir de preuve. = This can serve as proof.

Yes. The order is completely standard:

Cette copie + peut + servir de preuve

That is:

• subject
• conjugated verb
• infinitive
• complement

French word order here is very similar to English:

• This copy can serve as proof.

So this is a good model sentence to remember.