French Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns

French Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns There are two kinds of demonstrative pronouns: variable demonstrative pronouns (celui, celle, ceux, celles) which agree in gender and number with their antecedent, and invariable (or indefinite) demonstrative pronouns (ce, ceci, cela, à §a), which  do not have an antecedent and their form does not vary. Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns Invariable demonstrative pronouns, also called indefinite  or neuter demonstrative pronouns, do not have a specific antecedent and thus do not have different forms for gender and number. Indefinite demonstrative pronouns can refer to something abstract, like an idea or a situation, or to something indicated but unnamed. On the other hand, a variable demonstrative pronoun  refers to a specific, previously mentioned noun in a sentence; this pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers back to.   There Are Four Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns 1. Ce is the impersonal, simple indefinite demonstrative pronoun. It can mean this or it, and is used mainly with the verb à ªtre, either in the basic expression cest or in various impersonal expressions, which are expressions without a definite subject that begin with C​est  or Il​ est.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cest une bonne idà ©e!Thats a good idea!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cest difficile faire.Its hard to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cest triste de perdre un ami.  Its sad to lose a friend.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ãƒâ€°tudier, cest important.Studying is important. Ce may also be followed by devoir or pouvoir à ªtre.Ce doit à ªtre un bon restaurant.This must be a good restaurant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ce peut à ªtre difficile.This might be difficult. A less common and more formal usage (especially in written French) of ce can be used without a verb:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai travaillà © en Espagne, et ce en tant que bà ©nà ©vole.I worked in Spain (and this) as a volunteer.Elle la tuà ©, et pour ce  elle est condamnà ©e.She killed him, and therefore/for this she is condemned. Note that ce is also a demonstrative adjective.2. 3. Ceci  and cela are used as the subject of all other verbs:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ceci va à ªtre facile.This is going to be easy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cela me fait plaisir.That makes me happy. Ceci and cela are used with pouvoir or devoir when those verbs are not followed by à ªtre.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ceci peut nous aider.This could help us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cela doit aller dans la cuisine.That has to go in the kitchen. Ceci  and cela can also be direct and indirect objects:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Donnez-lui cela de ma part.Give him this from me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Qui a fait cela?Who did this? Notes Ceci is the contraction of ce ici (this here), while cela is the contraction of ce l (this there). Ceci is rare in spoken French. Just as l commonly replaces ici in spoken French (Je suis l  Ã‚  Im here), French speakers tend to use cela to mean either this or that. Ceci only really comes into play when one wants to distinguish between this and that:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je ne veux pas ceci, je veux cela.I dont want this, I want that. 4. Ça is the informal replacement for both cela and ceci.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Donne-lui à §a de ma part.Give him this from me.Qui a fait à §a?Who did this?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ãƒâ€¡a me fait plaisir.That makes me happy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Quest-ce que cest que à §a?What is that?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je ne veux pas ceci (or à §a),  je veux à §a.I dont want this, I want that.

3 Cases of Superfluous Semicolons

3 Cases of Superfluous Semicolons 3 Cases of Superfluous Semicolons 3 Cases of Superfluous Semicolons By Mark Nichol Semicolons serve one of two purposes: A semicolon can act as a weak period to separate two independent clauses so closely associated that dividing them into distinct sentences might seem excessive, or it can function as a supercomma in a sentence consisting of a list in which one or more items ordinarily separated by commas themselves include commas. Sometimes, however, employment of a semicolon in one of these roles seems to be merited but is not. The following examples, each followed by a discussion and a revision, illustrate such unnecessary usage. 1. Another factor is the actual speed of disruption; specifically, the ability of organizations to change rapidly. A semicolon used as a weak period must separate two independent clauses. Because the second half of this sentence is a mere subordinate clause, the semicolon is not appropriate. Using a comma in place of a semicolon fails to clarify the hierarchy of the sentence (preceding and following specifically with a comma would at least temporarily obscure whether specifically applies to the clause before it or the one that follows), so a dash is the best alternative: â€Å"Another factor is the actual speed of disruption- specifically, the ability of organizations to change rapidly.† (Parenthesizing the subordinate clause is also an option, but parentheses serve to diminish the impact of additional information, while a dash emphasizes it.) 2. This evaluation should include ascertaining which account balances are touched by the work of the provider; the related internal control assertions; how results are evaluated for reasonableness within established tolerances as dictated by the desired precision of the control activities in question; and whether the provider conforms to the organization’s code of conduct. Most of the list items in this sentence are long, but a semicolon exists to delineate complex phrases that already include commas rather than to set off extensive phrases; the statement is coherent without fortifying the divisions by changing the punctuation from commas to semicolons, so the latter are not necessary: â€Å"This evaluation should include ascertaining which account balances are touched by the work of the provider, the related internal control assertions, how results are evaluated for reasonableness within established tolerances as dictated by the desired precision of the control activities in question, and whether the provider conforms to the organization’s code of conduct.† 3. Soon, it becomes clear that the implications of the change reach farther than the finance and accounting group to impact operations, potentially leading to decisions to restructure customer contracts and pricing models; adjust sales commission and incentive compensation plans; modify debt covenants; assess tax planning strategies; and impact mergers and acquisitions transactions, forecasting reports, executive dashboards, and partnership and joint venture reports. Readers might conceivably be confused by this sentence’s organization because of the complexity of the list item â€Å"impact mergers . . . joint venture reports,† so retaining the semicolons is defensible, but because it is last in the sentence, it is probably safe to simplify punctuation by using commas in place of semicolons: â€Å"Soon, it becomes clear that the implications of the change reach farther than the finance and accounting group to impact operations, potentially leading to decisions to restructure customer contracts and pricing models, adjust sales commission and incentive compensation plans, modify debt covenants, assess tax planning strategies, and impact mergers and acquisitions transactions, forecasting reports, executive dashboards, and partnership and joint venture reports.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Structure A Story: The Eight-Point ArcHomogeneous vs. HeterogeneousTypes of Plots