Un 1.5

Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns replace nouns, whether already stated or assumed from context, and then act as the subject of a sentence. In French, there are 9 subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles.

Explanation

Exercises

Subject Pronouns - Pronoms sujets

Subject pronouns are used to avoid repeating the subject of a sentence, either to add variety or economy into language use.

e.g.

Here’s the French teacher. He is tall.

This is also true for the French language.

e.g.

Voici l’enseignant de français. Il est grand.

There are nine subject pronoun forms in French. The choice depends on grammatical person, grammatical number, and grammatical gender.

Singular			Plural
1st person	je	I	1st person	nous	we
2nd person (informal) 2nd person (formal)	tu vous	you	2nd person	vous	you
3rd person	il elle on	he / it she / it one	3rd person	ils elles	they

When the 1st person singular pronoun is not at the beginning of a sentence, it is not capitalized in French.

e.g.

Je travaille aujourd’hui.	I’m working today.
Aujourd’hui, je travaille.	Today, I’m working.

For the 2nd person singular, the choice between ‘tu’ and ‘vous’ depends solely on the formality of the situation. In less formal settings, ‘tu’ is the appropriate choice, while ‘vous’ is appropriate in more formal settings. This is similar to English’s historical usage of ‘thou’ and ‘ye’. The choice between these two subject pronouns may also entail changes in other parts of the French sentence.

e.g.

Tu es chez toi ?	Are you at your house?
Vous êtes chez vous ?	Are you at your house?

Using the same subject pronoun ‘vous’ to represent both the formal 2nd person singular and the 2nd person plural (formal or not) can sometimes require changes to other parts of French sentences, but not in all cases. Here, rules pertaining to grammatical gender and grammatical number are important factors to consider.

e.g.

Vous êtes étudiant.	You’re a student. (speaking to one man in a formal setting)	Vous êtes étudiants.	You’re (all) students. (speaking to more than one person, with at least one man in the group)
Vous êtes étudiante.	You’re a student. (speaking to one woman in a formal setting)	Vous êtes étudiantes.	You’re (all) students. (speaking to more than one woman, with no men in the group)

In the 3rd person, there is no direct equivalent in French for the English word ‘it’, when used to refer to inanimate objects. The grammatical gender of the inanimate object must be taken into account. The same goes for the French equivalent for the English word ‘they’.

e.g.

Voici le bureau. Il est énorme.	Here’s the office. It’s huge.
Voici la salle de classe. Elle est énorme.	Here’s the classroom. It’s huge.
Voici les pupitres. Ils ont confortables.	Here are the desks. They’re comfortable.
Voici les chaises. Elles sont confortables.	Here are the chairs. They’re comfortable.

In the 3rd person plural, the presence of even one masculine noun will dictate the usage of the subject pronoun ‘ils’.

e.g.

Voici mes quatre filles et mon fils. Ils sont tous élèves.

Here are my four daughters and my son. They are all students.

In the 3rd person, the form ‘il’ is often used as a place holder, where there is no clear subject in terms of the sentence’s meaning. The equivalent form in English is often the subject pronoun ‘it’.

e.g.

Il est dix heures.

It’s ten o’clock.

Typically, the 3rd person singular ‘on’ is used to refer to people in general. This is often translated by the word ‘one’ in English, but can also be translated by ‘you’ and ‘they’ when used in a general sense. French’s ‘on’ has a much less literary tone than English’s ‘one’. In informal settings, ‘on’ is also frequently used to describe the idea of ‘we’.

e.g.