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Ce, cet, cette, ces

CEFR A2 · part 18 minInstant feedback

edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.

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The rule, in three lines

Four forms and one decision: ce for masculine —ce livre—, cet for a masculine word starting with a vowel or mute h —cet homme—, cette for feminine —cette table— and ces for the whole plural, with no gender distinction.

The usual slip. Using ce before a vowel: «ce homme», «ce arbre». Before a vowel the masculine becomes cet, which sounds like cette but is spelt differently.

Why it catches you out. English has this/that and these/those, so you have the singular-plural split but no gender at all. And nothing in your language changes a determiner because of the next vowel, so cet has to be learnt from scratch.