Gender of non-specific antecedent?

Question

If a noun hasn't been mentioned yet, how do we know what gender it has?For example, suppose I make two cups of coffee, and I want to say to someone, "This one is for you," but I haven't mentioned the thing yet, the cup of coffee yet.Now, a cup of coffee could be masculine (*un café*) or it could be feminine (*une tasse de café*). So which one should I say?:* Celui-ci est pour toi.* Celle-ci est pour toi.Or must I say?:* Ce café est pour toi.

Answer 1

Hi!

you can say both "Celui-ci est pour toi" (= ce café est pour toi) or "Celle-ci est pour toi" (= cette tasse de café est pour toi).

For a French person it will be easy to understand what you mean in both cases! ("un café" or "une tasse"

But you can also say : "Voilà pour toi", "C'est pour toi" ...

Answer 2

This is a good question; it can be easily answered, I think. I would say "C'est pour toi". That is easy because in this kind of situation, it is a face to face conversation so there is no question that I made the coffee for you, since I am putting it in your hand.