Language/French/Grammar/Subject-pronouns

Subject Pronouns in French Grammar

Subject pronouns are an essential part of French grammar and are used to replace the subject of a sentence. In this lesson, we will explore the subject pronouns in French and how they are used in sentences.

Je

The subject pronoun "je" is used to refer to the first person singular, or "I" in English. For example:

• Je mange une pomme. (I am eating an apple.)
• Je suis fatigué. (I am tired.)

Tu

The subject pronoun "tu" is used to refer to the second person singular, or "you" in English. This form is used when speaking to someone who is familiar, such as a friend or family member. For example:

• Tu vas au cinéma ce soir? (Are you going to the movies tonight?)
• Tu parles français? (Do you speak French?)

Il/Elle/On

The subject pronouns "il," "elle," and "on" are used to refer to the third person singular. "Il" is used for masculine nouns, "elle" for feminine nouns, and "on" is often used as a more informal or general pronoun. For example:

• Il est grand. (He is tall.)
• Elle a faim. (She is hungry.)
• On va au parc. (We are going to the park.)

Nous

The subject pronoun "nous" is used to refer to the first person plural, or "we" in English. For example:

• Nous allons au restaurant. (We are going to the restaurant.)
• Nous sommes amis. (We are friends.)

Vous

The subject pronoun "vous" is used to refer to the second person plural, or "you" in English. This form is used when speaking to more than one person or when speaking to someone formally. For example:

• Vous habitez où? (Where do you all live?)
• Vous parlez anglais? (Do you all speak English?)

Ils/Elles

The subject pronouns "ils" and "elles" are used to refer to the third person plural. "Ils" is used for masculine nouns, while "elles" is used for feminine nouns. For example:

• Ils sont américains. (They are American.)
• Elles sont fatiguées. (They are tired.)

Conclusion

Subject pronouns are an important part of French grammar and are used to replace the subject of a sentence. By understanding the six subject pronouns in French - je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, and ils/elles - you can improve your French language skills and communicate more effectively with native speakers.

Table of Contents

Nouns

• Types
• Gender
• Plural

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Determiners

• Articles
• Typical use of the definite article
• Typical use of the indefinite article
• The partitive article: du, de l', de la, des
• Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas, ne... jamais, ne... plus, ne... guère
• Omission of the article
• Demonstrative determiners
• Possessive determiners

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Personal and impersonal pronouns

• Subject pronouns
• Object pronouns
• Stressed pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Possessive pronouns

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Adjectives

• Adjectives modifying the noun
• Adjectives which follow verbs or verbal expressions
• Adjectives with complements
• Indefinite and negative noun phrases with adjective complements
• Adjectives used as nouns
• Adjectives used as adverbs
• Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives
• Plural forms of adjectives
• Adjective agreement with nouns
• Invariable adjectives
• Compound adjectives
• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
• Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective
• Absolute use of the superlative

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Adverbs

• Function of adverbs
• Formation of adverbs with the ending -ment
• Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of -ment
• Phrases used as adverbs
• English and French adverb formation
• Types of adverbs
• Location of adverbs

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Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers

• Cardinal numbers
• Ordinal numbers
• Fractions
• Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English
• Measurements and comparisons
• Dates, days, years
• Clock time
• Money
• Quantifiers

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Verb forms

• Conjugations
• Easy ways of generating some parts of the paradigms
• Changes in the stem form of some -er conjugation verbs
• Verbs whose stems end in c- or g-
• Verb paradigms

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Verb constructions

• Relations between verbs and their complements
• Intransitive constructions
• Directly transitive verbs
• Indirectly transitive verbs
• Ditransitive verbs
• The passive
• Pronominal verbs
• Impersonal verbs
• Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements

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Verb and participle agreement

• Subject-verb agreement
• Agreement of the past participle with the subject of être
• Agreement of the past participle of verbs conjugated with avoir with a preceding direct object
• Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses

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Tense

• The present
• The past
• The future
• Other tenses indicating the time at which events occur relative to other events
• Combining tenses
• Tenses in direct and reported descriptions of events
• Tenses with si

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The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives

• The attitude of the subject to events: the subjunctive
• The use of devoir, pouvoir, savoir, falloir
• The French equivalents of the English modal verbs: 'would', 'should', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'ought to', and 'must'
• Exclamatives
• Imperatives

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The infinitive

• Introduction: what are infinitives?
• Infinitives as complements to other verbs
• Verbs which take infinitive complements without a linking preposition
• Verbs which take infinitive complements preceded by the preposition à
• Verbs which take an infinitive complement preceded by de
• Omission of objects before infinitives
• Infinitives as complements to adjectives
• Infinitives as complements to nouns
• Infinitives in subordinate clauses
• Infinitives as polite commands
• Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive complements

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Prepositions

• Introduction
• Prepositions listed alphabetically from à to vers
• French translations for common English prepositions

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Question formation

• Introduction
• Yes/no questions
• Information questions
• Order of object pronouns in questions involving inversion
• Order of negative particles in questions involving inversion
• Use of question words and phrases: qui?, que?, quoi?, quel?, de qui?, avec combien de? etc.
• Indirect questions

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Relative clauses

• Introduction
• Use of relative qui
• Use of relative que
• Preposition plus qui
• Use of lequel in relative clauses
• Use of dont, de qui, duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles
• The use of où as a relative pronoun
• Use of relative quoi
• Free relative clauses and the use of ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, etc.
• Translating 'whoever', 'whatever', 'wherever', 'whenever', 'however'
• Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses

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Negation

• Introduction
• Location of sentence negators
• Order of negators in multiple negation
• Omission of ne in sentence negation
• Order of negative elements in questions and imperatives
• ne... pas
• ne... que
• ne... aucun(e), ne... nul(le)
• ne... jamais
• ne... plus
• ne... guère
• ne... rien
• ne... personne
• ne... ni... ni
• sans used with other negators
• ne used alone

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Conjunctions and other linking constructions

• Introduction
• Coordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions
• Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers
• Repeated subordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions used with infinitive clauses
• après avoir/ être + past participle linking an infinitive clause to a main clause
• Past participle phrases used as linkers
• Present participles and gerunds

Related Lessons

• Subject verb agreement — Agreement with more than one subject
• Verbs with intransitive and transitive uses
• y and en in French where the English translation has no preposition
• Adjectives preceded by de
• Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
• Quantifiers — tout and chaque
• Polite Form
• Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English
• Categories of Nouns in French
• Adverbs