French Subject Pronouns – Les pronoms sujets
French subject pronouns have the particularity to change the form of the verb. Therefore it is crucial to understand and learn them before learning how to conjugate the verbs.
The other important two things to remember are that, the formal French in polite and official situations whereas the informal French is used when addressing friends, children and family members. It is important to know when to use “Vous” or “Tu”. For a beginner it is safer to use “Vous” at all times.
| French | Pronounciation | English | Note |
| je | Listen | I | |
| tu | Listen | you (singular) | familiar |
| il | Listen | he | |
| elle | Listen | she | |
| on | Listen | we | informal "we" or "it" as in it said that….. |
| nous | Listen | we | |
| vous | Listen | you (plural) | also the polite, formal way to adress someone |
| ils | Listen | they (masculine) | |
| elles | Listen | they (feminine) | |
| ça | Listen | it, that | |
| cela | Listen | that | |
| ceci | Listen | this | |
| ceux-ci | Listen | these (masculine plural) | |
| celles-là | Listen | those ( feminine plural) | |
| ceux-là | Listen | those ( masculine plural) |
Exemples
Je chante bien – I sing well
Tu travailles beaucoup – You work a lot
Il appelle sa mère – He calls his mother
Elle mange des frites – She eats french fries
On regarde la télévision ensemble – We watch TV together
On dit qu’il va faire froid cet hiver – It is said that this winter will be cold
Nous allons dormir – We are going to sleep
Vous êtes grand – You are tall (formal way to adress one person - singular)
Vous êtes grands – You are tall (adressing two or more people – masculine plural)
Vous êtes grandes – You are tall (adressing two or more women – feminine plural)
Ils sont américains – They are americans (a group of people where at least one is a male - masculine plural)
Elles sont américaines – They are americans ( two or more women – feminine plural)
Notice that, depending on the pronoun subject, the verbs and adjectives are modified:
Paul est américain (masculin singular) – Paul is american
Laura est américaine (feminine singular) – Laura is american
Paul et Laura sont américains (masculin plural) – Paul and Laura are american
Laura et Anne sont américaines (feminine plural) – Laura and Anne are american