If you’re more of a visual learner, then you may want to check out our video on French pronouns from the FluentU French YouTube channel<\/a>:<\/p>\n [fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Personal pronouns simply replace the who<\/em> or what<\/em> in a sentence<\/strong>. They will always agree with the person or thing they represent. For example:<\/p>\n J<\/strong>‘ai (1) un super-pouvoir. Je peux mettre des pronoms \u00e0 la place des choses.\u00a0<\/em>(I <\/strong>have a superpower. I can replace people with pronouns.)<\/p>\n Je les\u00a0<\/strong>utilise (2) pour mes amis et mes parents.\u00a0<\/em>(I use them<\/strong> for my friends and my parents.)<\/p>\n Quand je parle avec eux<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(3), je leur\u00a0<\/strong>(4) donne un ZAP et ils s<\/strong>‘en vont ! (5).\u00a0<\/em>(When I speak with them<\/strong>, I give them<\/strong> a zap and they<\/strong> leave!)<\/p>\n These pronouns may look insignificant but, if used correctly, they can vastly improve your sentence structure<\/a>.<\/p>\n Personal subject pronouns are key to conjugation<\/a>. Subject pronouns replace the subject of the sentence. In French these are:<\/p>\n je\/j’<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 I Example:<\/p>\n To understand the uses of direct object pronouns<\/a> (D.O. pronouns for short), you first need to know that a direct object is the who<\/em> or what<\/em> that the verb affects<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For an English example, the direct object would be “article” in the following sentence: “You are reading an article<\/strong>.” That’s because the reading is happening to the article. Thus, a direct object pronoun would replace this direct object.<\/p>\n Here are the D.O. pronouns in French:<\/p>\n me\/m’ <\/i><\/strong>\u2014 first person singular Example 1:<\/p>\n Since le g\u00e2teau<\/em> is third person singular, we replace it with le\u00a0<\/em>and place the pronoun before the verb.<\/p>\n Example 2:<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> The pronoun must agree with the gender and quantity of what we replace.\u00a0<\/p>\n These pronouns are useful and versatile. Most commonly, they’re used to emphasize a person in a sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n moi <\/em><\/strong>\u2014\u00a0<\/strong>first person singular There are eleven different ways in which stressed pronouns can be used<\/strong>, all with the same general idea in their function: stressing the person. Here are the most common ways:<\/p>\n C’est toi<\/strong> qui laves la salle de bain. <\/em> \u2014\u00a0 It’s you<\/strong> who is washing the washroom.<\/p>\n Michel et moi<\/strong> avons fait du shopping.<\/em> \u2014 Michel and I<\/strong> went shopping.<\/p>\n Je suis content, et toi <\/strong>?<\/em> \u2014 <\/em>I’m happy, and you<\/strong>?<\/p>\n Chez lui<\/strong>, sans elle <\/strong><\/em> \u2014 His<\/strong> house, without her<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Nous sommes plus rapides qu’eux<\/strong>. <\/em> \u2014 We are faster than them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Cette tarte est \u00e0 elle<\/strong>. <\/em> \u2014 That pie belongs to her<\/strong>.<\/p>\n me\/m’ <\/i><\/strong>\u2014 me An indirect object is a person or animate object that are preceded by a preposition (\u00e0, de<\/em>).\u00a0As you may have noticed, the pronouns themselves are similar to D.O. pronouns.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> Pay attention to the distinction between the third person singular or third person plural when you’re forming sentences with direct or indirect object pronouns. Use\u00a0lui\/leur\u00a0<\/em>for indirect object and\u00a0le\/la\/les\u00a0<\/em>for direct object<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Examples:<\/p>\n Don’t worry if there are two pronouns, there’s a quick trick to remembering the order of multiple pronouns at the bottom of this post.<\/p>\n The key to choosing between using an indirect or direct object\u00a0pronoun is whether or not there’s a preposition before the person or animate object. If yes, then it’s an indirect object. Just think: since there’s a preposition, you’re going\u00a0indirectly<\/strong>\u00a0to the noun.<\/p>\n For English speakers, reflexive pronouns and reflexive verbs don’t always seem logical and often look redundant. However, in French they’re essential.<\/p>\n me\/m’ <\/i><\/strong>\u2014 myself me, te, se, nous<\/em>\u00a0and vous<\/em> are the pronouns. You’ll see them used with reflexive (or pronominal) verbs as shown below.<\/p>\n Examples:<\/p>\n We conjugate them with the help of our reflexive pronouns: Remember that reflexive pronouns always agree with the subject and are used with reflexive verbs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A great way to identify when and how to use French pronouns is to immerse yourself in French media and see the pronouns used in context by native French speakers. Here’s an example of a French media clip\u00a0where various pronouns are used:<\/p>\n You can find more clips like this on the FluentU program.<\/p>\n FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\nPersonal Pronouns in French<\/h2>\n
1. Personal Subject Pronouns<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\ntu <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 you
\nil\/elle\/on <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 he\/she\/one
\nnous <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 we
\nvous <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 you formal, you all
\nils\/elles <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 they<\/p>\n\n
2. Direct Object Pronouns<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nte\/t’ <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 second person singular
\nle\/la\/l’ <\/strong><\/i>\u2014\u00a0third person singular
\nnous <\/strong><\/i>\u2014\u00a0first person plural
\nvous <\/strong><\/i>\u2014\u00a0second person plural
\nles <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 third personal plural<\/p>\n\n
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3. Stressed Pronouns<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\ntoi<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 second person singular
\nlui\/elle\/soi<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 third person singular
\nnous<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 first person plural
\nvous <\/em><\/strong>\u2014\u00a0second person plural
\neux\/elles<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 third person plural<\/p>\n\n
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4. Indirect Object Pronouns<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nte\/t’ <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 you
\nlui <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 him\/her\/one
\nnous <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 us
\nvous <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 you (plural)
\nleur <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 them<\/p>\n\n
5. Reflexive Pronouns<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nte\/t’\/toi <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 yourself
\nse\/s’ <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 himself\/herself\/oneself
\nnous <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 ourselves
\nvous <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 yourselves\u00a0
\nse\/s’ <\/strong><\/i>\u2014 themselves<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/em><\/li>\n
\nJe me<\/strong> lave.
\n<\/em>Tu te<\/strong> laves.
\n<\/em>Il se<\/strong> lave.
\n<\/em>Nous nous<\/strong> lavons.
\n<\/em>Vous vous<\/strong> lavez.
\nIls se<\/strong> lavent.
\n<\/i>(I wash myself, you wash yourself, etc.)<\/p>\n
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