Ce hôpital - French Mistake

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong: Ce hôpital

Right: Cet hôpital

Explanation: The masculine singular demonstrative adjective is ce, and since hôpital is masculine, it's logical to want to say "ce hôpital." However, this is incorrect. There is a special form of the demonstrative adjective that you have to use in front of masculine nouns that begin with a vowel or mute h, so the correct way to say "this hospital" is cet hôpital.

Note however that you can only use the special form if the demonstrative adjective is actually right in front of the noun. See Mistake: cet jeune homme for more info.

Related lessons: Demonstrative adjective | Adjectives with special forms | Mute h