-là - French Suffix

Suffix: -là

Type of suffix: nominal, pronominal

The French suffix -là literally means "there" and can be added to nouns or demonstrative pronouns to indicate that the speaker is referring to the farther of two or more things.

Nouns
With a demonstrative adjective plus noun, the suffix -là indicates that you are referring to "that" noun rather than "this" noun. Note that it can be used for both space/location and time.

   Ce tableau-là est très joli.
   That painting is very pretty.

   Je préfère ces chaises-là.
   I prefer those chairs.

   Je ne peux pas te voir ce dimanche-là.
   I can't see you that Sunday.

   Qui a pu téléphoner à cette heure-là ?
   Who could have called / been calling at that hour?


Pronouns
When -là is added to a demonstrative pronoun, it has two possible meanings.

1) "That one" or "those," as opposed to "this one" or "these":

   Celui-là est très joli.
   That one is very pretty.

   Je préfère celles-là.
   I prefer those.

2) "Former," as opposed to "latter":

   J'ai vu Dîner de cons et son remake américain « Dinner for Shmucks ». Celui-là est beaucoup plus amusant.
   I saw Dîner de cons and its American remake "Dinner for Shmucks." The former is much funnier.

   Nous avons un fils et une fille ; celui-là est moins timide.
   We have a son and a daughter; the former is less shy.


Related lesson: Là- as a prefix

Antonym: The opposite of -là is -ci.