French pronouns
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Lesson outline
Hide- 1.What is a pronoun ?
- 2.Personal pronouns
- 2.1.Subject pronouns
- 2.1.1.Examples
- 2.2.Object pronouns
- 2.2.1.Examples
- 3.Possessive pronouns
- 3.1.Examples
- 4.Relative pronouns
- 4.1.Examples
- 5.Demonstrative pronouns
- 5.1.Examples
- 6.Indefinite pronouns
- 6.1.Examples
- 7.Interrogative pronouns
- 7.1.Examples
- 8.Reflexive pronouns
- 8.1.Examples
- 9.Adverbial pronouns
- 9.1.Examples
- 10.Exercises
- 10.1.Multiple choice questions about the pronouns in French
What is a pronoun ?
Pronouns (French: les pronoms) are words which you can use to replace a noun or a noun phrase. They are commonly used to avoid naming someone or something directly. Also, they save you from repeating nouns constantly.
In general you have to distinguish between 8 different types of pronouns in the French language.
- Personal pronouns
- Possessive pronouns
- Reflexive pronouns
- Demonstrative pronouns
- Relative pronouns
- Indefinite pronouns
- Interrogative pronouns
- Adverbial pronouns
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Personal pronouns
The personal pronoun (French: le pronom personel) is one of the most important pronouns when it comes to learning the French language. You can use it to talk about yourself, but also to talk about others or to refer to objects or animals.
Similar to the English language they can be either subjective or objective.
Subject pronouns
They are the equivalent of the English personal pronouns:
- je (I)
- tu (you)
- il (he)
- elle (she)
- on (we familiar)
- nous (we)
- vous (you)
- ils (they: males)
- elles (they: females)
Examples
| Subject pronouns | Translations |
|---|---|
| il est souvent en retard | (He is always late) |
| Nous pensions que vous devrez faire la paix | (We think you should make peace) |
Object pronouns
Those pronouns are used to replace the subject in a COI sentence:
- me
- te
- le
- la
- lui
- nous
- vous
- leur
- les
Examples
| Object pronouns | Translations |
|---|---|
| Marie m'a donné le stylo | (Marie gave me the pen) |
| Théo lui a acheté des bonbons | (Theo bought him candies) |
Possessive pronouns
Le mien, le tien, le sien are examples of possessive pronouns (French: le pronom possessif). They indicate possessions and demonstrate that one thing belongs to another.
Examples
| Possessive | Translations |
|---|---|
| Ma passion, c’est la musique. Et la tienne Marie ? | (Music is my passion. What’s yours, Marie ?) |
| Tes parents sont américains ? Les miens sont français. | (Your parents are americans ? Mine are French.) |
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns (French: le pronom relatif) are used to introduce relative clauses and furthermore aim to describe or explain a previously mentioned noun (the antecedent).
They are:
- qui
- que
- où
- dont
- ce dont / ce que / ce qui
- lequel
- auquel
- duquel
Examples
| Relative pronouns | Translations |
|---|---|
| L’homme qui parle français, est mon copain. | (The man who is speaking is my friend.) |
| Les amis que je vois le plus sont Anna et Nicole | (The friends that I see the most are Anna and Nicole) |
| C'est la maison où habite ma grand-mère | (This is the house where my grand mother lives) |
| Tu te souviens de l'histoire dont tu m'as parlé ? | (Do you remember the story you told me about ?) |
Demonstrative pronouns
You can use demonstrative pronouns (French: le pronom démonstratif) to emphasize or highlight certain people and things. Also, they can refer to something nearby or far away.
Demonstrative pronouns are
- ceux, celles
- ceci, ca, cela, ce
- celui, celui-ci, celui-là
- celle, celle-ci, celle-là
Examples
| Demonstrative pronouns | Translations | References |
|---|---|---|
| Je veux parler de celles que tu m'as donné | (I am talking about the ones you gave me) | refer to dresses |
| Ceci est une preuve suffisante pour te renvoyer | (This is a sufficient evidence to expel you) | refer to an evidence |
| Celui-là, je le mangerai après | (I will eat this one after) | refer to this cake |
| Celle de ton père est toujours en panne | (Your father's is still broken down) | refer to his car |
Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns (French: le pronom indéfini) are used to speak about something unspecified or unidentified. They also aim to describe people or things in a general way.
Some of the indefinite pronouns are for example tout, personne, rien, chaque, chacun and quelque chose.
Examples
| Indefinite | Translations |
|---|---|
| Tout le monde s'est amusé. | (Everyone had fun.) |
| Je n’ai vu personne. | (I didn’t see anyone). |
Interrogative pronouns
The interrogative pronouns (French: les pronoms interrogatifs) are pronouns like qui, que, quoi, lequel and quel which are being used to introduce a question.
They aim to replace a noun that we’re asking about.
Examples
| Interrogative | Translations |
|---|---|
| Que cherches-tu ? | (What are you looking for?) |
| Qu’est-ce qui se passe ? | (What’s happening ?) |
Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns (French: le pronom réfléchi) such as me, te, se, nous, vous, se are being used exclusively with pronominal verbs.
They are always placed in front of the reflexive verb.
Examples
| Reflexive pronouns | Translation |
|---|---|
| Je me prépare | (I prepare myself.) |
| Michel se lave les mains. | (Michel washes his hands.) |
Adverbial pronouns
In the French language we have two different kinds of adverbial pronouns: en and y.
Like adverbs they aim to replace words in a phrase which are used to imply quantities, qualities, properties and relations.
Examples
| Adverbials | Translation |
|---|---|
| Je n’en sais rien | (I’m leaving) |
| J’y vais | (I don’t know anything about that.) |
Check our subpages to learn more about these types of pronouns !
Exercises
Multiple choice questions about the pronouns in French
Exercises
Multiple choice questions about the pronouns in French
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Having online lessons with a teacher really helped me to keep up my study pace, and provided me with the essential opportunity to practice speaking (and 'real time' sentence building) to someone, who can also correct me on my pronunciation. On top of that, being a native speaker and current resident in Italy, Lucia also helped me to understand the cultural influences and tricks and habits of the Italian language. I liked that she could recommend a study book and also provided online excercises and assessments from the book, which she could revise as my homework. This provided both me and her with more possibility for feedback during the lessons. Lucia did not speak my native language (Dutch), but this was not a hindrance as we could communicate in English and quite quickly shift to mostly Italian instructions anyway :) The study pace was quite slow in my opinion (i.e. a quarter book lesson per online lesson), as Lucia used this time to make sure the basis was strong, before moving forward perhaps too soon. However, especially for some wider range in 'holiday-sentences' or general vocabulary it was good for me to have some additional excercises/podcasts on the side (or to move forward in the book on your own), to help me learn faster. However, especially with listening to podcasts it was really really good to have the solid (also grammar- and spellingwise) basis of the lessons with Lucia, as additional materials would otherwise never land on 'fertile ground'. The lessons are essential in moving forward with the language. Lucia herself is super nice, patient and open for questions or any input during the lessons, and her cheerfulness makes the studying all the more fun.
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Hi! My name is Tiphaine, I'm french, I'm 37 years old and I live in Seville.
I grew up in the outside of Paris, I travelled all over the world and I live in Spain for 10 years now.
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I'm a french teacher, and it's my passion! I speak 3 languages, and thanks to my learning I was able to live amazing experiences in many countries.
That's why I became a teacher, to be able to share with you my love for french language and culture and to guide you in your progress.
For me, each language is a way of seeing and interpreting the world, as glasses of different colors.
Understanding the way a language works is understanding how its people see things; it's such a exciting process, I can't wait to share it with you!
I have more than 8 years experience, in schools, companies and universities.
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All my classes are in french, I adapt my vocabulary and speech speed according to your level.
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Whatever are your motivations, if you want to learn french in a pleasurable and rewarding way, book a class with me!
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My name is Mélanie, I am 40 years old, I am Belgian and I live near Brussels in Belgium.
I have 7 years of experience in teaching French as a foreign language. I have a degree in Modern Languages and Literature. I have an agrégation in higher secondary education. French is my mother tongue. Additionally I have a C2 level in Spanish.
I have taught adults (beginner - advanced) in various training institutions (CLL, CVO Semper, ...). I have taught both large and small groups. I can therefore adapt my teaching methods according to the number of people.
As far as my teaching methods are concerned, I create communicative exercises.
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I have had about 10 lessons in French from Mélanie. We treated a lot of different subjects such as grammar, talking and listening exercises. Mélanie is a very good and patient teacher and I learned a lot in these lessons on how to communicate in French.
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I m claudie , I m french and i have experience to teach french to foreign people.
I create in a school of langage in Spain a little faculty for my french lessons with a group from 15 years olds until 25.
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thank you very much, I really enjoyed the hours spent working French together on many topics and also our laughter !!
I am a graduate of Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Social Science. I am a holder of a Professional License as Teacher. I have also teaching certificates like TESOL and TEYL. I have 2 years teaching experience as ESL Teacher. I can make our class fun and engaging. Come, let's learn English together.
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Mabuhay! Magandang Araw! Kumusta ka? I am Rey Corañes. I am a licensed professional teacher and I have 4 years of teaching experience in teaching Filipino/Tagalog language. I have a degree in education and my specialization is teaching Filipino. Let me help you set your goals and have amazing results. Do you want to speak the common Filipino phrases? Do you want to learn how to converse with the people in the community? Do you want to master the grammar and have conversational practices? No worries, I am here to help you learn it all. So what are you waiting for? Book a lesson with me.
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Thank you so much for this review! I'm so overwhelmed.
Hi! My name is Tiphaine, I'm french, I'm 37 years old and I live in Seville.
I grew up in the outside of Paris, I travelled all over the world and I live in Spain for 10 years now.
I'm a musician, a dancer and I love to cook and hike.
I'm a french teacher, and it's my passion! I speak 3 languages, and thanks to my learning I was able to live amazing experiences in many countries.
That's why I became a teacher, to be able to share with you my love for french language and culture and to guide you in your progress.
For me, each language is a way of seeing and interpreting the world, as glasses of different colors.
Understanding the way a language works is understanding how its people see things; it's such a exciting process, I can't wait to share it with you!
I have more than 8 years experience, in schools, companies and universities.
I work with people from all ages, beginners to advanced. I know most of french manuals.
I can prepare you to DELF and DALF exams. I also have a specialization in french for specific goals and french business.
I can offer you thematic courses, to improve your pronunciation, increase your vocabulary, prepare you for traveling or for a new job.
All my classes are in french, I adapt my vocabulary and speech speed according to your level.
I also adapt my method to your needs, personality, to take the best advantage of my classes and your french learning.
I use diversified ressources, from quizz to podcasts, videos, songs and games.
Whatever are your motivations, if you want to learn french in a pleasurable and rewarding way, book a class with me!
R. T.
Very social and helpful teacher with an excellent grasp on how to improve your french in the method that suits you. The informal style is very pleasant and will help you acquire the language in a natural, unforced fashion. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a learn by doing approach.
Tiphaine R.
Do you want to learn Spanish with a kind and patient teacher? Someone to help you gain confidence and practice the language with topics according to your level and needs? In addition to that ... Do you want to get a study material and corrections? Well, I'm the right teacher for you . My name is Andrea and I'm from South America - Ecuador. I am a full-time Spanish teacher and I have a variety of resources to help you learn Spanish online.
I am currently studying French and I know how beneficial and fun it is to learn with a friendly and patient teacher who teaches you and helps you speak the language with confidence.
If you want to know a little more about me, I invite you to watch this video about reserving a hotel room.
https://youtu.be/d7F7mxOfKmA
G. P.
Andrea is a delightful and brilliant teacher. She has been teaching Spanish since 2018 and her study method is based on the student's level and the goals they want to achieve. In her you will find a prepared, experienced and friendly person. She relies on several books for teaching Spanish and her lessons are creative, very innovative and super interactive. With her you will never be bored.
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Andrea H.
