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Pronouns are the spine of many languages. Each English and French have this in frequent. Their major perform is to exchange nouns or noun phrases and get rid of repetition in each speech and writing. As soon as context is established, pronouns step in to maintain issues flowing shortly. 

Take the next: As a substitute of “Jack ran” in English, we might say “He ran.” “Jack’s backpack”, could be “his backpack,” and “I went to faculty” turns into “I went there.” 

In French, there are lots of various kinds of pronouns, every of which depends on the place they fall in a sentence. In the event you’re involved in shifting past merely memorizing phrases and phrases, understanding every kind of pronoun might help you higher improvise in dialog. Plus, it really makes dialog simpler—your sentences will likely be less complicated, shorter, and much much less repetitive. You’ll be capable to say extra with far much less! 

Under, we’ll check out pronoun sorts and supply detailed examples of every. In the event you’re wanting to be taught grammar guidelines in a enjoyable atmosphere—with out the memorization—Rosetta Stone has all of the instruments you could take your French to the subsequent stage. You’ll put together for real-life conversations with uniquely immersive studying actions and get rapid suggestions in your pronunciation in each lesson! 

What are French pronouns?

Pronouns substitute nouns and get rid of repetition. Not often greater than 2-3 letters, they’re quick and candy phrases. Essentially the most tough half about French pronouns is figuring out them in speech, since they’re single syllable phrases and simply mix into longer sentences. You might even be tempted to gloss over them when studying or writing in French, however be warned! Pronoun utilization can completely make or break a sentence. 

There are French topic pronouns which might be simply recognizable: 

• je
• tu
• il / elle / on
• nous
• vous
• ils/elles 

And there are different pronouns you could be conversant in like: 

• moi
• toi
• lui
• eux
• son / sa / ses
• me
• te
• se

It’s necessary to do not forget that French pronouns are used as way more than replacements for topics and objects. That’s why there are 15 sorts! French pronouns, like their English counterparts, symbolize nouns in all the kinds a noun takes in a sentence, whether or not that be as a topic, object, possessor, an “everyone”, or a “no person”. 

The 15 various kinds of French pronouns

There are 15 various kinds of pronouns, which implies there are 15 totally different ways in which nouns/pronouns could be positioned in a sentence. You may even see some repetition between the precise pronouns used—me is each a direct and oblique object pronoun—however the perform is totally different. 

Mastering pronouns takes observe, so don’t anticipate to know this whole listing in your first learn! Making errors in real-life conversations is one of the simplest ways to commit pronouns to reminiscence. It’ll all come extra naturally than you suppose! 

Private pronouns in French

There are two classes to which the assorted units of French pronouns belong: private and impersonal. 

A private pronoun is a pronoun used to designate an individual (animals included). In English, we might use you, I, me, you, she, or her. 

French grammar provides loads of methods to symbolize the particular person in query with out endlessly repeating their title every time we want to communicate of them. We’ll first have a look at the totally different units throughout the broad class of non-public pronouns, starting with topic pronouns.

French topic pronouns

A topic pronoun is one that’s used as a topic in a sentence. The topic of a sentence is the noun that produces the motion of the verb. Take this instance: 

I walked to the shop in the present day.

 “I” is the topic engaged within the verb “walked”. Right here’s one other one: 

Il va au supermarché. = He goes to the grocery store.

Right here, il, or “he” is the topic that engages within the verb va (go). Discover how the English translation is “he” and never “him.” “Him” is an object in English, slightly than a topic. Understanding these distinctions in our personal language helps us perceive them higher in one other.

Observe the excellence within the following examples: 

On est responsable de tous les dégâts. 

You (impersonal, hypothetical “one”) are chargeable for all of the damages.

In French on could imply the impersonal or hypothetical “one”  or “you”, as within the sentence “one (you) ought to wash one’s (your) palms after utilizing the restroom.” It may possibly additionally perform as “we” and “they”.

Ils font trop de bruit! = They are making an excessive amount of noise!

French direct object pronouns

Direct object pronouns are, as their title suggests, pronouns which might be used as direct objects in a sentence. An object is the noun that receives the motion of the verb. “Direct” signifies that there are not any prepositions or different objects that come between it and the verb. Take this instance:

I really like her. 

Her is a direct object, as it’s the receiver of the act of “loving” and has no different objects to compete with that additionally obtain this motion. In French:

Je l’aime.

L’ (lowercase l’) is the item. The total pronoun is la to match the grammatical gender of the direct object, however we’re utilizing the contracted model right here to get rid of the side-by-side vowels (la aime).

You could be questioning why the item comes earlier than, slightly than after, the verb. This can be a main distinction between English and French. In English, objects come after the verb, in French, they arrive earlier than it. So, our brains should suppose just a little in another way about sentences.

It’s mandatory to notice that sure verbs in French robotically render sure pronouns as direct objects. For instance, within the sentence:

Je le cherche. = I’m searching for him. 

In English “him” is an oblique object. However in French, the verb “chercher” doesn’t have a preposition after it, so any object that receives its motion is direct. 

French direct object pronouns

Examples: 

Je les adore. = I am keen on them.

Observe how the gender of the noun that les represents doesn’t have an effect on its kind. Whether or not it’s a gaggle of masculine or female nouns, all of it will get grouped into les.

Tu m’étonne! = You shock me!

As at all times, when the phrase that follows begins with a vowel, we get rid of the vowel on the finish of the pronoun and substitute it with an apostrophe.

French oblique object pronouns

Oblique object pronouns are like direct ones, solely they aren’t the first to obtain the motion of the verb. These pronouns are objects that additionally obtain a verbs motion, however share it with others. In some circumstances, these are objects which might be merely preceded by a preposition. 

I’m giving him the journal.

Him is the oblique object as a result of, “journal” is the direct object (the “first in line” if you’ll) of the verb “giving”. “Him” is an object coming after the one instantly receiving the motion of the verb, and is thus an oblique object. 

Let’s check out this instance in French now.

Je lui donne le journal.

Discover how the identical rule performs out for the direct object (le journal) and the oblique object (lui, “him”). Observe that on this instance, donner is one in all a number of verbs by which the preposition à is at all times inbuilt or implied. In that sense, the item pronoun will at all times be oblique when used with this verb. 

Check out the desk beneath for a listing of French verbs which have à inbuilt!

French oblique object pronouns

French verbs ending in à

Examples: 

• Je lui parle du live performance. = I’m speaking to him concerning the live performance.
• Nous leur enseignons l’histoire mondiale au lycée = We educate them World Historical past in highschool.

French prepositional object pronouns

Along with the pronouns within the earlier part, there may be one other group of pronouns that perform with prepositions as oblique objects. These are referred to as prepositional object pronouns. They’ll solely be oblique objects and, as such, are at all times preceded by a preposition. 

He’s talking to me! = Il parle à moi!

The moi right here is just not the identical as the topic pronoun je for it’s the object of the verb parler, and likewise essentially preceded by the preposition à with the intention to join the motion of the verb parler to its object of moi. Observe how this identical sentence may very well be rephrased with the prepositional object as an oblique object pronoun from the desk within the final part.

Il me parle. = He’s talking to me.

The prepositional object pronoun moi right here has modified its position within the sentence to symbolize the noun in query as an oblique object as a substitute. That is distinctive to French and, as you may see, doesn’t translate into English.

Within the desk beneath, you’ll discover that a few of our private prepositional object pronouns are the identical ones we’ve beforehand seen as topic, direct object, and oblique object pronouns, like nous and vous.

Examples: 

• Les filles sont déçues parce qu’il à rien dit à elles du changement. = The women are dissatisfied as a result of he didn’t say something to them concerning the change.
• Il a finalement répondu à nous après trois jours! = He lastly responded to us after three days!

French reflexive pronouns

In the event you’ve reviewed the pronoun sorts above, you need to have a stable grasp on what a topic and object is in a sentence. Understanding that is key to wrapping your head round reflexive pronouns! 

Reflexive pronouns are object pronouns whose topic is identical as the item it represents. One other approach of describing them could be as object pronouns that mirror their topic. For instance: 

He talks to himself quite a bit. = Il se parle beaucoup.

Discover how, for one, the item “himself” or se in French refers back to the identical noun as “he” does within the sentence. We wouldn’t be content material in saying: 

Il lui parle. = He’s speaking to him.

Right here, the oblique object pronoun lui  or “him” doesn’t talk the which means of the topic il (him) speaking to himself. The which means is misplaced! That’s why we now have reflexive pronouns. 

French reflexive pronouns

Once more, you’ll discover sure repetitions from earlier classes of pronouns. That is par for the course. 

French reflexive verbs 

Much like how sure verbs have the built-in preposition of à, rendering their object pronouns oblique, there may be additionally a set of verbs which might be at all times or largely used with reflexive pronouns. It is not uncommon observe to precise these verbs within the third particular person singular type of “S’ + infinitive verb”.

Examples:

• Je m’appelle Tom. = My title is Tom. (actually, I name myself Tom.)
• Ils se baignent dans la mèr. = They’re swimming within the ocean. (They themselves are swimming within the ocean.)

Impersonal pronouns in French 

The second class of pronouns are impersonal pronouns, which confer with common objects and individuals slightly than any particular one like “you” or “them.” As a substitute, impersonal pronouns could be the English equal of phrases like “these/these” and different occasions as pronouns of place like “right here/there”. Different occasions they may perform as possessive pronouns like “his” or “their”. As with our private pronouns, we are going to start with the topic set first.

Impersonal French topic pronouns 

Impersonal topic pronouns in French are grammatically the identical as their private pronoun counterparts, in that they perform as topics that “provoke” the verb in a sentence. Nevertheless, as their title suggests, they’re impersonal. So, slightly than the usual je, tu, and il/elle/on  we now have ce and il to designate impersonal expressions or verbs that haven’t any agent.  

It is critical to do the dishes. = Il faut faire la vaisselle.

On this sentence, the verb falloir (to be essential to….) is just not being initiated by any particular person, factor, or actor who’s chargeable for the verb (what’s known as “company”). The topic pronoun Il (it) doesn’t symbolize any particular particular person or factor chargeable for its verb.

Examples: 

• Il pleut. = It’s raining
• C’est absurde! = That is absurd.
• Qui est à la porte? = Who is on the door?

You’ve in all probability already come throughout ce with out even noticing it, because it’s featured in lots of sentences that include the contraction ce + être = c’est. 

French adverbial pronouns

The 2 French adverbial pronouns are y and en. They every substitute nouns that may be adopted by a preposition. As at all times, these pronouns are positioned earlier than the verb of which they’re an object.

Let’s check out the pronoun y. You’ll use y to exchange a noun and its previous preposition when that noun follows any of those 4 prepositions: 

Y represents nouns of place, particularly those who somebody goes to or spending time at. There’s one quite common exception although! Y is at all times used with penser (as in, considering about one thing) as a result of the truth that penser is at all times adopted by à. 

Now, let’s check out the pronoun en. You’ll use en to exchange a noun and its previous preposition when that noun is adopted by: 

Since there’s just one choice, this one is kind of simple to recollect! En represents somebody or one thing that’s from someplace. It may possibly substitute nouns of place like “right here” or “there.” It may also be used as an alternative choice to “about,” as in, “We had been speaking concerning the climate.” 

Do not forget that French makes use of totally different prepositions than English—there isn’t at all times a direct translation between them. We might say, “I take into consideration…” however the French would say, “Je pense à,” utilizing the à preposition that usually interprets to “to,” “at,” or “in.” 

All this to say, pay particular consideration to those guidelines. Translating instantly from English can result in incorrect grammar! 

Additionally be aware that we cannot use y or en to exchange our oblique object pronouns. As an illustration, we cannot say J’y écris as a substitute of J’écris à lui (I’m writing to him).

Seek the advice of the desk of verbs ending in de for a whole listing of verbs which might be suitable with the preposition en.

French adverbial pronouns

Examples: 

• –Tu vas chez lui cet après-midi? =   Are you going to his home this afternoon?

• Oui, j’y vais.   – Sure, I’m going there.

• Il y a trop de règles! J’en suis fatigué! = There are too many guidelines! I’m uninterested in them!

French verbs ending in de  

French	English
avoir besoin de	to want
avoir envie de	to need
jouer de	to play (an instrument)
penser de	to consider (opinion)
profiter de	to benefit from/take advantage of

French relative pronouns

Right here is the place we are going to actually need our information of what a topic and an object is, in addition to verbs in French which have the inbuilt prepositions of à and de. These will assist us use the relative pronouns of que, qui, dont, où, and lequel. The desk beneath offers their English translations in addition to what prepositions these pronouns can observe in a sentence.
In English we would say: 

Nevertheless, in French we might say one thing nearer to “to whom are you talking?”

• A qui est-ce que tu parles?

French	English	Prepositions (when used)	Use
qui	who/which/that	Used after à, de, pour, chez, and avec	As in oblique object (normally simply folks).
que	who/whom/which/that		As a direct object. Adopted by a pronoun or noun (by no means a verb).
dont	that/of which		To switch an object or an individual when de is included or following a verb with de.
où	the place/when		To confer with a spot of location or in time.

French	Used after	Varieties
lequel	Sur avec dans pour	lequel  (M.S.)laquelle (F.S.)lesquels (M.Pl.)lesquelles (F.Pl.)
auquel (à + lequel)	à	auquel (M.S.) à laquelle (F.S.)auxquels (M.Pl.)auxquelles (F.Pl.)
duquel (de + lequel)	de	duquel (M.S.) de laquelle (F.S.) desquels (M.Pl.)desquelles (F.Pl.)

Right here’s a listing of examples that use every relative pronoun: 

• Le magasin qui vient d’ouvrir était soudainement fermé. = The shop that simply opened was all of a sudden closed.
• A qui appartient ce portefeuille? = Who does this pockets belong to?
• La voiture que tu as acheté est belle! = The automobile (that) you got is gorgeous!
• La maison dont je m’occupe est en bon état. = The home that I’m caring for is in good situation.
• Le jour où tu es venu nous rendre visite était très spécial. = The day (when) you came around us was very particular. 
• C’est la maison dans laquelle j’ai grandi. = That’s the home I grew up in. (actually “….the home by which I grew up.)

French indefinite pronouns

In French we use indefinite pronouns equally to English. That’s, to confer with individuals, locations, or issues with out saying precisely who or what they’re. For instance: 

You should utilize them if you would like, however sure ones don’t work.

Tu peux les utiliser, mais certains ne fonctionnent pas.

In French there is no such thing as a further phrase wanted to strengthen a pronoun just like the “ones” does for “sure ones” in English. The pronoun alone will do. It should after all agree in quantity and adjective with the noun which it describes although, because the desk beneath particulars.

M.S.	F.S.	M.Pl.	F.Pl.	English
un autre	une autre	d’autres	d’autres	different
sure	certaine	certains	certaines	sure
chacun	chacune	chacuns	chacunes	every
–	–	plusieurs	plusieurs	many
quelque selected	–	–	–	one thing
quelqu’un	–	–	–	somebody
–	–	quelques-uns	quelque-unes	some (folks)
quiconque	–	–	–	anybody
personne (ne + V. + personne/ personne + ne + V.)				nobody/no person
tout	–	tous	toutes	all
un	une	–	–	one
l’un	l’une	–	–	one

Check out how they’re utilized in a sentence: 

• Il s’en fout d’autres et c’est pourquoi il n’a personne pour l’ aider. = He doesn’t care about others and that’s why he has nobody to assist him.
• Regardes! Il n’y a personne! = Look! There’s nobody (right here)!
• Toutes sont très intelligentes! = All (the women) are very clever!

French possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are ones that point out possession by somebody or one thing, akin to mine, his/her/its, ours, theirs, and so on. There’s extra complexity to this in French than in English although. As we’ll see beneath:

Her telephone isn’t working. = Son moveable ne marche pas.

In French, the “his/her” pronoun indicating possession modifications kind in response to the gender of the item possessed, slightly than the gender of the possessor. So, within the instance above the “her” within the sentence really takes the masculine singular pronoun son, as a result of moveable being a masculine noun. 

Examine the desk beneath, and ensure to recollect to select the suitable pronoun primarily based on: 

•  Who or what possesses the item (i.e. whether or not you’re talking within the 1st, 2nd, or third particular person)
• The gender and variety of the possessed object

M.S.	F.S.	Pl.(gender irrelevant in plural)	English
mon	ma	mes	my
ton	ta	tes	your (casual)
son	sa	ses	his/her/one’s
notre	notre	nos	our
votre	votre	vos	your
leur	leur	leurs	their

• Bonjour David! Est-ce que tu as reçu ta valise? = Good day David! Did you obtain your suitcase?
• Je m’appelle Kimberly et j’y ai laissé mes feuilles. = My title is Kimberly and I left my notes right here.
• Son idée est excellente! = His/her thought is great!

When the phrase following the possessive pronoun begins with a vowel, we revert again to the masculine kind within the case of singular objects. As within the final instance “Son idée est excellente”, idée is in actual fact a female noun, however the truth that it begins with the vowel -E makes us use the masculine singular pronoun of son.

French demonstrative pronouns

If we consider possessive pronouns as being made up of an adjective that possesses a noun (the adjective being the “your” or “her” describing the possession of the noun they possess) then we are able to consider demonstrative pronouns in an analogous approach. 

Demonstrative pronouns are made up of an adjective describing a noun, although it’s an adjective describing “this (one)” or “that (one)” explicit factor that’s both “right here” or “there”. It may possibly additionally simply imply the equal of “one” in English.

• Which novel would you prefer to buy? I’ll purchase this one. 
• Quel roman est-ce que tu voudrais acheter? J’achète celui-ci. (gender settlement with the masc. roman)

M.S.	F.S.	Pl.(m.)	Pl. (f.)	English
ce	cette	ces		this/that/these
celui	celle	ceux	celles	this/that/these/these ones

Listed below are a number of extra examples: 

• En ce qui concerne la maison idéale, je cherche celle qui a assez d’espace pour les gamins.
• In regards to the supreme home, I’m searching for one with sufficient house for the children.
• Où sont les pommes? Tu te rappelles celles que j’ai achetées! Tout à l’heure? 
• The place are the apples? You bear in mind those that I purchased earlier?

Observe that with celui and ceux it may be used alone with -ci (this one) or là (that one) on the finish. 

French indefinite demonstrative pronouns

Indefinite demonstrative pronouns carry out an analogous perform to the particular ones within the part above, nevertheless, they don’t describe particular person, explicit issues. As a substitute, they perform as “this” and “that”. There isn’t a plural kind, as they describe issues that aren’t normally quantifiable.

C’est délicieux = It’s scrumptious! 

Sure, that’s the identical “ce” that we are saying as an indefinite topic pronoun, now showing as an indefinite demonstrative pronoun!

French	English
ce	it/this/that/these/these
ceci	this
cela	that
ça	this/that

Examples: 

• Cela n’est pas le bon second pour discuter de ça. = That’s not the correct second to debate that.
• Est-ce que tu as entendu ceci? = Did you hear that?

French unfavourable pronouns

Detrimental pronouns are ones that negate different pronouns. For instance, the negation of “somebody” or “everybody” is “nobody”. The negation of “all the things” is “nothing”.

None of my colleagues are coming. = Aucun de mes collègues ne vient.

French	English
aucun(e)	none
ne…nul(le)	nobody
nulle half	nowhere
ne…personne	nobody
ne…quiconque	nobody
ne…rien	nothing…not something

• Rien n’est not possible. = Nothing is not possible.
• On le cherchait, et on ne l’a trouvé nulle half. = We looked for him and willn’t discover him anyplace (OR “…discovered him nowhere”)

Discover how the construction could be both: 

• unfavourable pronoun + ne + verb 
• ne + verb + unfavourable pronoun

French interrogative pronouns

Lastly, our interrogative pronouns! These are comparatively easy in comparison with earlier classes, and serve to handle interrogative, or, query pronouns. Merely put, they’re there to ask “who” and “what”.

What are you doing? Tu fais quoi?

Quoi is often casual. Within the sentence above, the formal phrasing could be “Qu’est-ce que tu fais?”. Quoi may also be used by itself in a sentence like when one says “What!?” in response to not listening to, understanding, or eager to consider one thing.

French	English
qui	who
que	what
quoi	what

• Qui est-ce que tu aimes? = Who do you want?
• Que sais-je? = What do I do know?

Vital French grammar ideas to recollect

As we now have seen all through these examples, there are numerous French grammar guidelines to bear in mind when making use of our information of pronouns. These embody gender, quantity, and ritual. 

Making use of gender guidelines to pronouns

As at all times, we should bear in mind the gender and singularity or plurality of our nouns. Pronouns are not any exception to this. 

Once we possess a guide, we should bear in mind its gender with the intention to use the right pronoun of “son” (masc.) slightly than “sa” (fem.). 

If we’re restating the identical phrase like “automobiles” in a sentence and never eager to repeat this phrase again and again, we have to use the topic pronoun “elles” as a result of “automobiles” is female and plural.

Formal and casual pronouns

The distinction between formality and informality in French is one which applies to all manners of speech, together with pronouns. You’ll have to maintain this in thoughts when utilizing: 

• fundamental topic pronouns (tu, vous)
• reflexive pronouns (te, vous)
• possessive pronouns (ton, ta; tes, votre, vos) 
• direct and oblique object pronouns (te, vous) 
• prepositional object pronouns of (toi, vous)

Understanding when to omit pronouns

In contrast to in Spanish, you’ll not often see pronouns omitted in French. Since French verb conjugations typically sound or look related, it might make communication fairly tough. For instance, if somebody had been to say: 

(Tu) cherches quoi? = What are (you) searching for?

It will be tough to know whether or not the speaker is asking “What are you searching for?” or asking “What’s he/she searching for?” because of the pronunciation of (tu) cherches and (il/elle) cherche being equivalent.

The one time one omits pronouns is within the crucial tense of giving a command.

• Donnes-moi le ball! = Give me the ball!
• Allons-y! = Let’s go!

Is there a neater option to bear in mind French pronouns?

As said originally, studying pronouns is difficult. Nevertheless, it’s necessary to not over analyze them or concern your self an excessive amount of with the specifics of every rule. The extra publicity you get, the better it’s to demystify them. 

Wish to keep away from muddling your approach by way of French grammar? Rosetta Stone might help you increase your French information quick—with out the tedious memorization. Every lesson pairs phrases, pictures, and audio so you may be taught French in a enjoyable, immersive atmosphere. Plus, Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent characteristic might help you good your pronunciation out of your very first lesson! 

Written by Micah McCauley

Micah McCauley is a present freelance contributor to Rosetta Stone with years of expertise instructing French to non-native audio system. His profession spans the U.S., France, and China. He’s presently a pupil and affiliate teacher of French and Francophone Research. He enjoys composing music, touring, and studying Spanish in his free time.