Mastering French Pronouns: A Complete Guide

Just like any other language, pronouns in French are a significant part of all languages and are used in conversations to replace people, things, places, and phrases. There are two groups of French pronouns, namely personal and impersonal. A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a substitute for an individual’s name. On the other hand, an impersonal pronoun doesn’t refer to a specific person or thing. Keep reading the blog further to discover more about French pronouns and their types.

What are French Pronouns?

Just like in English, French pronouns are used to replace a noun in written or spoken language.  Different types of pronouns are used in various circumstances to replace distinct nouns. They allow us to avoid calling the same thing repeatedly by its name. Instead of repeatedly mentioning someone’s or something’s name, pronouns allow us to quickly and naturally refer to them.

Also Read: 50+ Basic French Language Words You Need to Know Before Getting Started

Difference between French and English Pronouns 

We hope you have now gotten a good understanding of the significance of French pronouns. Now, let’s see what are the main differences between them and the pronouns in English below. 

• Unlike in English, French pronouns have a gender. Each noun in this language has a gender. So you will need to ensure that you replace it with a suitable pronoun. 
• There is no “it” pronoun in the French language. One of the most frequently used words in English does not exist here.
• French has more pronouns than English.

List of 12 Types of French Pronouns

There are various types of pronouns in the French language. Let’s understand them through examples. See below the 12 types of French pronouns. 

1. French Subject Pronouns (Pronoms Sujets)

French subject pronouns are personal pronouns that replace a sentence’s subject. Have a look at their example below.

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
He/she	Il	Elle	Il mange une pomme (He is eating an apple) Elle lit un livre (She is reading a book)
I	Je	Je	J’aime le café (I like coffee)
We	Nous	Nous	Nous habitons à Paris (We live in Paris)
You	Tu	Tu	Tu parles français? (Do you speak French?)
You (plural + plural formal)	Vous	Vous	Pouvez-vous m’aider, s’il vous plaît ? (Can you help me, please?)
You (singular formal)	Vous	Vous	Bonjour, Monsieur. Comment allez-vous ? (Hello, Sir. How are you?)
They	Ils	Elles	Ils jouent au football (They are playing football) Elles chantent une chanson. (They are singing a song)

2. French Stress Pronouns (Pronoms Disjonctifs)

French stress pronouns are used whenever you want to address who is doing the action. See the example of these types of pronouns below. 

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
Me	Moi	Moi	C’est moi! (It’s me!)
He/her	Lui	Elle	Lui et moi sommes amis (He and I are friends) On a offert le cadeau à elle (We gave the present to her)
You	Toi	Toi	Je pense à toi. – I’m thinking of you.
Them	Eux	Elles	Eux, ils ne viendront pas. (They (masculine) won’t come.) Elles sont allées faire du shopping. (They (feminine) went shopping.)
Us	Nous	Nous	Nous, on adore voyager. (We love to travel.)
You (plural)	Vous	Vous	Vous, vous avez dit non ! – You had said no yourselves!
You (formal)	Vous	Vous	C’est vous, Madame Dubois ? – Is that you, Miss Dubois?
Oneself	Soi	Soi	On va rester chez soi. – We are going to stay (in our own) home.

3. French Direct Object Pronouns (Pronoms Compléments D’objet Direct)

French direct object pronouns replace the noun to which the sentence’s action is being done. The examples are given below.

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
Me	Me	Me	Tu m’aimes vraiment. – You really love me.
Him/her/it	Le	La	Jimmy va la manger. – Jimmy will eat it.
You	Te	Te	Je te donne de l’attention. – I give you attention.
Us	Nous	Nous	Il va nous faire bâiller ! – He’ll make us yawn!
You (plural + plural formal)	Vous	Vous	Je vais vous appeler mes amis. – I will call you my friends.
You (singular formal)	Vous	Vous	Je vous suis. – I follow you.
Them	Les	Les	On va les attendre un peu. – We will wait for them a little bit.

4. French Indirect Object Pronouns (Pronoms Compléments D’objet Indirect)

Indirect object pronouns replace the noun to whom the action is being done. An indirect object is similar to a direct object, except that they provide answers to the questions “to whom?” and “for whom”. See below the examples. 

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
Me	Me	Me	Il m’a donné un café. – He gave me a coffee.
Him/her	Lui	Lui	Roméo lui donne une boîte de chocolat. – Romeo gives her a box of chocolates.
You	Te	Te	Je veux te téléphoner. – I want to call you.
Us	Nous	Nous	Elle ne nous voit plus. – She doesn’t see us anymore.
Them	Leur	Leur	Je leur téléphone tous les jours. – I call them every day.
You (singular formal)	Vous	Vous	Attendez, s’il vous plaît, je vous donne mon numéro de téléphone. – Wait, please, I will give you my phone number.
You (plural + plural formal)	Vous	Vous	Je veux vous acheter un café. – I would like to buy you all a coffee.

5. French Reflexive Pronouns (Pronoms Réfléchis)

Reflexive pronouns play a key role in spoken and written French. You will be required to use a reflexive pronoun whenever someone is doing something to themselves. Have a look at their examples below.

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
I	Me	Me	Je me souviens… – I remember…
He/she	Se	Se	La musique ne s’arrête pas ! – The music doesn’t stop!
You	Te	Te	Tu t’es déjà vu dans le miroir ? – Have you seen yourself in the mirror yet?
We	Nous	Nous	Demain, nous devons nous réveiller très tôt. – Tomorrow, we have to wake up very early.
They	Se	Se	Les enfants, peuvent s’habiller eux mêmes ! – The kids can get dressed by themselves!
You (plural + plural formal)	Vous	Vous	Je serai là pour vous, où que vous vous trouviez. – I will be there for you, wherever you find yourselves.
You (singular formal)	Vous	Vous	Attention de ne pas vous blesser ! – Careful, don’t hurt yourself!

6. French Relative Pronouns (Pronoms Relatifs)

Relative pronouns allow us to relate two different nouns or actions to each other. These words help us describe nouns much more accurately. Take a look at their examples below. 

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
That	Que	Que	Tu sais que je t’aime. – You know that I love you.
Which	Lequel	Laquelle	Le resto dans lequel j’ai mangé. – The restaurant in which I ate.
Who	Qui	Qui	C’est toi qui me manques. – It’s you I miss.
Which	Lesquels	Lesquelles	Les cahiers dans lesquels j’avais fait mes devoirs sont perdus ! – The notebooks in which I had done my homework are missing!
Where, when	Où	Où	La ville où je suis née est très petite. – The city where I was born is very small.

7. French Indefinite Pronouns (Pronoms indéfinis)

French indefinite pronouns allow you to replace almost any noun with a handy pronoun so you don’t need to keep repeating yourself.

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
Another	Autre	Autre	Je ne veux pas manger cette pomme, je voudrais une autre. – I don’t want to eat this apple, I would like another one.
Each one	Chacun	Chacune	Chacun de vous doit faire ses devoirs. – Each one of you has to do the homework.
Certain one, some, a few	Certain	Certaine	On a mangé certains de ses repas. – We ate some of their meals.
Several	Plusieurs	Plusieurs	Plusieurs de mes amis m’ont dit que je ressemble à Brad Pitt. – Several of my friends have told me that I look like Brad Pitt.
Someone	Quelqu’un	Quelqu’un	Je reviens toute de suite, quelqu’un me demande. – I’ll be right back, someone is looking for me.
Something	Quelque chose	Quelque chose	Veux-tu manger quelque chose ? – Do you want to eat something?
Some	Quelques-uns	Quelques-unes	J’ai invité tous mes amis, mais quelques-uns ne peuvent pas venir. – I invited all of my friends, but some won’t be able to come.
One	Tel	Telle	Il aime manger du fromage à tel point qu’il en mange tous les jours ! – He likes to eat cheese so much that he eats it every day!
Oneself	Soi	Soi	Il faut faire ses devoirs soi-même ! – You have to do the homework by yourself!
Everything	Tout	Toute	Tout est parfait ! – Everything is perfect!
One, a	Un	Une	Oui, j’en veux une ! – Yes, I want one!
Everyone	Tous	Toutes	Tous sont invités à ma fête d’anniversaire ! – Everyone is invited to my birthday party!

8. French Possessive Pronouns (Pronoms Possessifs)

Just like in the English language, French possessive pronouns indicate possession. Take a look at their examples below. 

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
Mine (singular)	Le mien	La mienne	Si ton stylo ne marche pas, tu peux prendre le mien. – If your pen doesn’t work, you can use mine.
Yours (singular)	Le tien	La tienne	Ma voiture est chez le garagiste, alors je vais prendre la tienne. – My car is at the mechanic, so I’m going to take yours.
Mine (plural)	Les miens	Les miennes	J’aime bien tes chaussures, mais je préfère les miennes. – I like your shoes, but I prefer mine.
Yours (plural)	Les tiens	Les tiennes	Ne joue pas avec mes jeux, tu as les tiens ! – Don’t play with my toys, you have yours!
His/hers/theirs/its (singular)	Le sien	La sienne	Elle n’a pas pris ta pomme, elle a la sienne ! – She didn’t take your apple, she has hers!
His/hers/theirs/its (plural)	Les siens	Les siennes	J’ai mes sports préférés et il a les siens. – I have my favorite sports and he has his.
Yours (singular)	Le vôtre	La vôtre	Ma maison est plus petite que la vôtre. – My house is smaller than yours.
Yours (plural)	Les vôtres	Les vôtres	J’ai mon opinion et vous avez les vôtres. – I have my opinion and you all have yours.
Ours (singular)	Le nôtre	La nôtre	Votre appartement est plus grand que le nôtre. – Your apartment is bigger than ours.
Ours (plural)	Les nôtres	Les nôtres	Voulez-vous acheter vos serviettes, ou voulez-vous prendre les nôtres ? – Would you like to buy your own towels, or would you like to use ours?
Yours (formal, singular)	Le vôtre	La vôtre	Excusez-moi Madame, quel manteau est le vôtre ? – Excuse me Miss, which coat is yours?
Yours (formal, plural)	Les vôtres	Les vôtres	J’ai déjà pris mes clés, avez-vous pris les vôtres ? – I already grabbed my keys, have you grabbed yours?
Theirs (singular)	Le leur	La leur	Ils ne doivent pas entrer dans une salle de cours qui n’est pas la leur. – They shouldn’t go into a classroom that isn’t theirs.
Theirs (plural)	Les leurs	Les leurs	Ces lunettes de soleil sont-elles les miennes ou les leurs ? – Are these sunglasses mine or theirs?

9. French Interrogative Pronouns (Pronoms Interrogatifs)

French interrogative pronouns are used to introduce a question. See below the examples. 

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
Which	Lesquels	Lesquelles	Les célébrités pour lesquelles j’avais tant d’admiration ne sont que gens ordinaires. – The celebrities for whom I had so much admiration are just regular people.
Which	Lequel	Laquelle	Le sac dans lequel j’ai mis mes clés est perdu. – The bag in which I put my keys is missing.

10. French Demonstrative Pronouns (Pronoms Demonstratifs)

French Demonstrative Pronouns are used to quickly refer to something within immediate proximity or something previously mentioned. Let’s look at the examples below. 

English	French masculine	French feminine	French example with English translation
This one	Celui	Celle	Ce champignon n’a pas l’air comestible, mais celui-là si. – This mushroom doesn’t look edible, but this other one does.
This	Ce	Ce	Ce n’est pas un problème ! – This is not a problem!
These ones, which (of these)	Ceux	Celles	Parmi tous les pays du monde, quels sont ceux que tu as visités ? – Of all the countries in the world, which are the ones you’ve visited?
This	Ceci	Ceci	Ceci n’est pas une blague ! – This is not a joke!
It, that	Ça	Ça	Ça marche ?- That works?
That	Cela	Cela	Cela c’est terminé. – That is over.

11. The French pronoun en

The French pronoun en replaces the noun after an indefinite adjective or replaces the de + noun after an adverb of quantity. See below the examples for this pronoun. 

English verb	French verb	French example without en	French example with en	English meaning
To be scared of	Avoir peur de	J’ai peur des araignées.	J’en ai peur.	I am scared of spiders.
To need something	Avoir besoin de	J’ai besoin de ton aide.	J’en ai besoin.	I am scared of spiders.
To come back from	Revenir de	Je reviens de France.	J’en reviens.	I’m coming back from France.
To dream of	Rêver de	Je rêve de la remise des diplômes !	J’en rêve !	I dream of graduation day!

12. The French Pronoun y

The French pronoun y is used to replace phrases that describe places. 

French example without y	French example with y	English meaning
Je suis allée en France.	J’y suis allée.	I went to France.
J’aime bien l’école, je vais à l’école avec plaisir.	J’aime bien l’école, j’y vais avec plaisir.	I like school, I go there happily.
Il est chez Marie. Il va chez Marie tous les jours.	Il est chez Marie. Il y va tous les jours.	He is at Marire’s place. He goes there every day.

Also Read: French Education System

French Pronouns Quiz

Check your knowledge of French pronouns by answering the following questions. 

Q1 – True or False: There are two groups of French pronouns, namely personal and impersonal.

Q2 – Fill in the Blank: French subject pronouns are  _________ pronouns that replace a sentence’s subject.

Q3 – True or False: The French pronoun “y” is used to replace phrases that describe people. 

Answers: A1 – True, A2 – personal, A3 – False

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