French grammar · Beginner (A1)
Subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles
The French words for I, you, he, she, we and they, when to say tu or vous, and how French uses on.
The subject pronouns
The subject is the person or thing doing the action. A subject pronoun is a short word that replaces the name, like “I” or “she”. In French you always need it: you can't say just , you say (I speak).
becomes j' before a vowel or a silent h: , .
| French | English |
|---|---|
| (j') | I |
| you (one person, informal) | |
| / | he, it / she, it |
| we (spoken), one, people | |
| we | |
| you (polite, or more than one person) | |
| / | they |
Tu or vous?
French has two words for “you” when you talk to one person. Use with friends, family, children, and people your age in relaxed settings. Use with strangers, colleagues you don't know well, staff in shops and older people. It is the polite form.
is also the only word for “you” when you speak to two or more people, whether you know them well or not. If you're not sure, use . The other person may suggest (Shall we say ?).
- Tu viens ce soir ?Are you coming tonight? (to a friend)
- Vous désirez ?What would you like? (a waiter to a customer)
- Vous êtes prêts, les enfants ?Are you ready, children?
Il, elle, ils, elles for things
There is no separate word for “it”. Use for a masculine noun and for a feminine noun: (The car? It's red.)
In the plural, is only for groups that are all feminine. As soon as there is one masculine person or noun in the group, use .
- Le musée ? Il est fermé le lundi.The museum? It's closed on Mondays.
- Marie et Paul ? Ils habitent à Nantes.Marie and Paul? They live in Nantes.
On: the everyday “we”
In everyday speech, French people very often say instead of for “we”. always takes the same verb form as and : , not on allons.
can also mean “people” or “you” in general, like in (French is spoken here).
- On va au cinéma ?Shall we go to the cinema?
- On mange à quelle heure ?What time are we eating?
- En France, on dîne assez tard.In France, people have dinner quite late.