Pronouns in French

Level A1

Pronouns in French

French pronouns look a lot like English ones, and like English, French never leaves the subject out. The differences are elsewhere: "you" is tu or vous, "it" is il or elle depending on the word, and "they" is ils or elles. You'll also learn on, the everyday "we", and the short words moi, toi and lui that you use on their own.

The eight pronouns — il is both "he" and "it"

The pronoun chart: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles

SingularPlural
je / j'nous / on
tu / vousvous
ilils
elleelles
il / elleils / elles

Pronoun + verb: Elle habite à Paris

Elle habite à Paris.

Tu or vous: the polite "you", and the only plural one

As in the greetings and introductions lessons, you say tu to a friend, a child or someone your age, and vous to a stranger, an older person or anyone you'd call Sir or Madam: "Salut, tu es le frère d'Ana ?" but "Excusez-moi, vous êtes monsieur Tanaka ?". The verb changes with it: tu es, vous êtes.

Vous is also the only plural "you", so when you talk to two or more people you say vous, even to close friends: "Vous êtes tous prêts ?" French has no "you guys"; add tous ("all") or tous les deux ("both") to make it clear: "Vous voulez un café, tous les deux ?"

Always a subject, and "it" is il or elle

Like English, French needs a subject in every sentence, even for the weather: "Il pleut" is "It's raining". But French has no separate word for "it": every noun is masculine or feminine, and you use il or elle to match it. Le téléphone becomes il, as in "Il est sur la table"; la table would become elle.

In the plural, ils covers men, masculine nouns and any mixed group, and elles is only for a group that's all women or all feminine nouns.

Before a vowel or a silent h, je shortens to j': "J'habite près d'ici", not "je habite".

On: the everyday "we"

In conversation, French speakers usually say on instead of nous for "we": "On est en retard !" On takes the same verb form as il, so it's on est, not on sommes. Nous is still correct and you'll see it in writing and hear it in careful speech: "Nous habitons dans le même immeuble." Both mean "we", so learn to recognise on even if you start with nous.

C'est or il est? Saying who someone is

English says "He's Leo" and "They're my neighbours", but French uses c'est (and ce sont for more than one) before a name or a noun: "C'est Léo", "Ce sont mes voisins". Il est and elle est come before a describing word, about someone you've already mentioned: "Il est très grand", "Il est super drôle".

The same goes for things. "Il est trop cher" is about one masculine thing you've already named, like un manteau (a coat), while "C'est trop cher" is a general remark: "That's too expensive."

Moi, toi, lui: pronouns that stand on their own

Je, tu and il can't stand alone, so French has a second set for that: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles. You use them after et, after a word like avec ("with") and in short questions: "Et vous ?", "Et lui, c'est qui ?", "Ils travaillent avec moi."

They also go in a list of people. English says "my husband and I", but French says "mon mari et moi", never "et je": "Nous venons d'emménager, mon mari et moi."

Meeting a new neighbour: vous all the way

At a party: tu, c'est and et lui

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