Cela (en. That)

/sə.la/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

pronoun

Used to refer to a thing or an idea.

That surprises me a lot.

Cela m'étonne beaucoup.

Used to refer to a situation or an event.

That will not happen as planned.

Cela ne se passera pas comme prévu.

Indicates a consequence or a result.

If that continues, there will be problems.

Si cela continue, il y aura des problèmes.

Comes from Old French 'cel', a contraction of 'ce' and 'la'.

that said

This indicates that one is going to conclude or qualify what was previously said.

cela dit

all that

Refers to the entirety of what has been mentioned.

tout cela

it's been a long time

Indicates a long interval of time since a past event.

cela fait longtemps

this

Demonstrative referring to something close or immediate.

that

Feminine singular demonstrative to designate something.

cette

these

Plural demonstrative to designate multiple things.

ces

That

Did you see that?

Tu as vu ça ?

Thing

You know that thing there?

Tu sais la chose là ?