Using the demonstrative adjectives ce/cet/cette/ces (see Ce/cet/cette and ces = this/that and these/those (demonstrative adjectives)) on their own is good enough in most cases to express this/that, but sometimes, especially with durations, you need to emphasise how far in the past something happened (that day), or how close to now things are happening (these days).
Look at such cases in French:
Elle se maria cette année-là.
She got married that year.
Note that in this expression you use année and NOT an
Ce soir-là, quelque chose d'extraordinaire se produisit.
That night, something extraordinary happened.
Oh non, j'étais en vacances cette semaine-là !
Oh no, I was on holidays that week!
Dans ces moments-là, on ne sait jamais quoi faire.
In those moments, one never knows what to do.
Je ne me sens pas super ces jours-ci.
I don't feel great these days.
To say that + duration, use the agreed demonstrative adjective ce, cet, cette or ces + duration(s) + -là
To say this + duration, use the agreed demonstrative adjective ce, cet, cette or ces + duration(s) + -ci
Note that ce ...-là (that/those ...) forms are much more commonly used than their counterparts ce...-ci (this/these ...).
ATTENTION:
To express in those days in French, you won't colloquially use "ces jours-là", but rather à cette époque-là or en ce temps-là.
However, ces jours-ci is perfectly correct to say these days:
À cette époque-là, les femmes n'avaient pas le droit de vote.
In those days, women didn't have the right to vote.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ce soir-là, quelque chose d'extraordinaire se produisit.
That night, something extraordinary happened.
Elle se maria cette année-là.
She got married that year.
Dans ces moments-là, on ne sait jamais quoi faire.
In those moments, one never knows what to do.
Je ne me sens pas super ces jours-ci.
I don't feel great these days.
À cette époque-là, les femmes n'avaient pas le droit de vote.
In those days, women didn't have the right to vote.
Oh non, j'étais en vacances cette semaine-là !
Oh no, I was on holidays that week!
Q&A
Gary
Kwiziq community member
22/04/19
Passé simple
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
22/04/19
Hi Marya,
It is indeed the passé simple which is a narrative tense equivalent to the passé composé . If you want to know more about it , take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson -
Hope this helps!
Bill
Kwiziq community member
14/12/18
Paul
Kwiziq community member
4 June 2018
1 reply
Nuit et soir
Hi, The quiz answer to It was that night that my insomnia started is cette nuit-là, but the example "That night, something extraordinary happened" is translated as ce soir-là. Is there a lesson on when to use nuit and when soir?Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
8/06/18
Hi Paul,
Aurélie tells me there is no specific lesson on when to use nuit and soir.
Normally 'nuit' is night and 'soir' is evening.
'Nuit' is associated with dark and sleeping so you will say, Bonne Nuit! to someone only before you go to bed wishing them to have a good night sleep.
You will say 'bonsoir!' to someone you greet in the evening.
In the examples you mention, the first one is definitely 'nuit' as it involves sleeping or lack of. I guess the second one is more vague so it could be either depending on the context.
Hope this helps!
Mary Anne
Kwiziq community member
1 May 2018
1 reply
Cet with année
Usually "cet" goes before a noun that begins with a vowel.
But in this lesson we have "cette année" and "cette epoque."
Evidently, these are exceptions. Is there an explanation for this? Are there other exceptions?
Thank you for your help.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
1/05/18
Bonjour Mary Ann !
The answer is that cet comes before masculine nouns that begin with a vowel or mute h.
For feminine nouns such as année or époque, you use cette.
See our related lesson:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/demonstrative-adjectives-ce-cet-cette-and-ces-mean-this-that-and-these-those
Bonne journée !
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
16/04/18
Hi Steven,
'Elle se maria' is in the passé simple ( past historic).
'Je me suis marié' is in the passé composé .
They have the same value, but the passé simple is essentially a written tense used for narrating actions in the past (mainly found in literature) and the passé composé is its spoken equivalent.
You will not hear the passé simple spoken in every day speech.
Hope this helps!
Joakim
Kwiziq community member
12 November 2016
1 reply
Articles
Why is it that "cette époque-là" needs to be prefixed with "à" while "cette semaine-là" can do without ?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
16/11/16
Fahad
Kwiziq community member
13 May 2019
0 replies
When should we use ‘dans’, ‘à’, or ‘en’ with this?
Are ‘à’ and ‘en’ only used with
à cette époque-là
and
en ce temps-là
?