Je vais prendre ceux-ci, parce qu’ils sont en coton et moins chers.

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Breakdown of Je vais prendre ceux-ci, parce qu’ils sont en coton et moins chers.

• être: to be
• et: and
• ils: they

Questions & Answers about Je vais prendre ceux-ci, parce qu’ils sont en coton et moins chers.

What does ceux-ci mean, and why isn’t the noun repeated?

Ceux-ci means these ones or these.

It is a demonstrative pronoun, which means it replaces a noun that is already understood from the context. For example, in a shop, if you are looking at several shirts, shoes, or other items, you do not need to repeat the noun.

So instead of saying:

Je vais prendre ces pantalons-ci

you can simply say:

Je vais prendre ceux-ci

This is used for a masculine plural noun. If the hidden noun were feminine plural, you would use celles-ci instead.

What is the difference between ceux-ci and ceux-là?

Both refer to those/these ones, but they differ in distance or emphasis:

• ceux-ci = these ones / the ones here
• ceux-là = those ones / the ones there

In practice:

• -ci often points to something closer
• -là often points to something farther away or contrasts with another group

Example:

• Je préfère ceux-ci, pas ceux-là.
  = I prefer these ones, not those ones.

In everyday French, the distinction is sometimes less strict than in English, but this is the basic idea.

Why is there a hyphen in ?