Subject Pronouns

A pronoun replaces a noun in order to avoid repetition. Subject pronouns are subjects of verbs. In French, a subject pronoun is immediately or almost immediately followed by its verb. The use of subject pronouns is mandatory in French; always use a subject pronoun to construct sentences in the absence of a noun subject. Here are the French subject pronouns:

Subject pronouns are labelled by the term ‘person’, referring to the subject’s role in the conversation. 1st person refers to the person(s) speaking (I, we); 2nd person to the person(s) spoken to (you); and 3rd person to the person(s) or thing(s) spoken about (he, she, it, they).

je

Unlike the English pronoun ‘I’, je is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence.

tu

The pronoun tu is singular and, importantly, informal. Use tu to address people your own age and those you know well.

on

The pronoun on means ‘one’, or ‘they’ in a nonspecific sense: ‘comme on dit’ (as they say). On often replaces ‘nous’ in spoken French: ‘On y va?’ (Shall we go?).

vous

The pronoun vous is conjugated with a plural verb so it obviously refers to more than one person. However, it is also the customary form of address when you are talking to only one person you do not know well, such as an elder, a boss, a shopkeeper, etc. Inappropriate use of the tu form is considered a sign of disrespect.

il/elle

Il and elle besides meaning ‘he’ and ‘she’ can both express the meaning ‘it’ depending on the gender of the noun being replaced. For example:

iel

A singular gender-neutral pronoun—-

ils/elles

Ils and elles are similar to il and elle since they agree with the gender of the noun they replace. Ils and elles may refer to people or things. Elles is used to mean ‘they’ if it replaces people who are all women or objects that are all feminine in gender. On the other hand, ils is used to mean ‘they’ for objects that are masuline in gender or a group of all men or any group where there is at least one male person or masculine object in the group.

Listen to the dialogue:

iels

A plural gender-neutral pronoun—-

être – to be

The verb être is an irregular verb in the present tense. Listen carefully to its forms in the present. Do you hear the liaison or linking in the pronunciation of the –s in the vous form? It is pronounced as a /z/ to link with the vowel ê in êtes.

C’est (plural Ce sont) is a common expression used to describe and introduce people or things. See c’est vs. il/elle est for more information. Etre is also used as an auxiliary in compound tenses (passé composé with être, passé composé of pronominal verbs, plus-que-parfait, etc.)

Gender: masculine, feminine

In French, a noun is always feminine or masculine. It is introduced by a determiner, which usually indicates the gender of the noun.

people

When a noun refers to a person, the gender is determined by the person’s sex (although some exceptions do exist).

In general, the feminine form of the noun is formed by adding an -e to the masculine noun. Note that the addition of the -e changes the pronunciation in some words:

There are cases when the feminine form of the noun changes more drastically.

In general, when the masculine noun ends in -e, the feminine noun remains unchanged. Only the determiner or the context indicates if it is a feminine or masculine noun.

animals

The gender of animals is often arbitrary. Some animals are always masculine (un escargot, a snail), others are feminine (la fourmi, ant). However, for some animals there are irregular masculine and feminine forms.

objects and ideas

The gender of nouns referring to things and abstractions is arbitrary. However, it can often be inferred from the ending of the word. Typically, words ending in -age, -ment, -eau, -phone, -scope, -isme are masculine and those ending in -tion, -sion, -té, -ette, –ance, -ence, -ie, -ure, -ode/-ade/-ude are feminine.

Listen to the dialogue. Feminine nouns are in blue, masculine in black.

Introduction to nouns

A noun is essentially a label for places, things, events, ideas, concepts and so on. Like English, nouns in French may be categorized as common or proper, count or mass, singular or plural. However, unlike English, French nouns are also categorized as either masculine or feminine.

common vs. proper

Common nouns in English and French are the generic term for something. Common nouns are never spelled with a capital letter unless they begin a sentence.

Proper nouns are specific names and thus begin with capital letters.

count vs. mass

Another way of classifying nouns is according to whether they can be counted or not. Count nouns identify individual entities that can be counted, like armadillos.

In contrast, a mass noun refers to an entity as an uncountable unit. In the following example, the bread that Tex is eating is conceived of as a mass, that is, an undefined quantity.

The difference between count and mass nouns is usually clearcut. However, something that is typically countable such as an animal (one armadillo, two armadillos, three armadillos) can nevertheless be conceived of in terms of a mass, as in the following tasteless example.

singular vs. plural

All nouns in French and English are marked for number, that is, for singular (one) or plural (more than one). French, like English, usually indicates plurality by adding an -s to the end of the base form, the singular noun. Count nouns have both singular and plural forms:

Mass nouns typically have only a singular form. Try saying the plural forms of the following English mass nouns: sewage, mucus, plasma.

It sounds strange doesn’t it? This shows that it is difficult to pluralize a mass noun.

masculine vs. feminine

In English, grammatical gender is based on biology and is only relevant for pronouns (he, she, it) and possessive determiners (his, her, its). Gender in French, on the other hand, affects all nouns, pronouns, adjectives and articles. A noun’s gender is indicated by the article that precedes it. Masculine nouns are preceded by le and feminine nouns by la. The use of articles in French is more widespread than in English.

Unlike English, the grammatical concept of gender in French has little to do with biological sex. Therefore, inanimate objects such as tables and desks are categorized as either masculine or feminine (there is no neuter gender in French grammar).

Remember that gender in French, for the most part, is not about sex, but is simply an arbitrary category. The terms ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ really mean nothing more than ‘noun class A’ and ‘noun class B’. Because grammatical gender is fairly arbitrary, it is essential to memorize a noun’s gender along with its spelling and pronunciation.

Determiners: Definite articles

forms

In French, few nouns can stand alone. Most need to be introduced or ‘determined’ by an article. As in English, an article is characterized as either definite (‘the’) or indefinite (‘a’, ‘an’). In addition, French articles are also masculine or feminine, singular or plural, according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the definite articles in French:

élision and liaison

In the examples above, note that le and la both become l’ when they precede a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h: l’escargot, l’université. This is called elision.

Unlike le and la, les does not have a contracted, reduced form. When les is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the normally silent final s of les is pronounced, making a /z/ sound. This additional sound linking two words is called liaison. Listen to the following examples:

Note that elision and liaison occur with most words starting with h: l’homme, les hommes, l’hiver, les hivers. Exceptions to this rule are words beginning with an aspirate ‘h’.

to identify a specific noun

The definite article is used to identify a specific noun or to refer to a noun that has already been specified.

to express general truths or concepts

French uses the definite article to express general truths or concepts. English, in contrast, uses no article at all. Compare the following sentences:

to express likes and dislikes

The French also use the definite article with verbs of preference, such as aimer, préférer, détester. Once again, English omits the article in such general statements. For example:

to indicate habitual recurrence

The definite article is used in French with moments of the day, days of the week, and seasons to indicate habitual recurrence. For example:

in a series

The article is usually repeated in a series, in contrast to English. For example:

no article

Cities usually do not require an article in French. For example:

Continents, countries, states, regions, and oceans usually require an article (l’Afrique, la France, le Texas, la Bourgogne, l‘Atlantique etc.), but there are a few exceptions, usually islands: Haïti, Israël, Madagascar. See prepositions with place names for more information.

Months never require an article: janvier, février, mars, etc.

Days of the week do not require an article in instances where they do not indicate habitual recurrence. For example:

Listen to the dialogue:

Determiners: indefinite articles

forms

In French, few nouns can stand alone. Most need to be introduced or ‘determined’ by an article. As in English, an article is characterized as either definite (‘the’) or indefinite (‘a’, ‘an’). In French, articles are also masculine or feminine, and singular or plural, according to the gender and number of the noun they determine. Here are the indefinite articles in French:

In the examples above, listen carefully to the difference in pronunciation of un and des before words beginning with a consonant (un tatou, des tatous) and before a words beginning with a vowel sound (un écureuil, des écureuils). These are examples of liaison.

uses

As the English ‘a’ ‘an’ or ‘some’, the indefinite articles un, une, des refer to nouns which are non-specific. Un or une may also indicate quantity, ‘a’ or ‘an’ in the sense of ‘one.’ Contrast the use of the indefinite and definite articles in the first two sentences below. The indefinite plural des is always expressed in French, but its English equivalent ‘some’ is often omitted.

‘de’ after the negative

In a negative sentence, the indefinite articles un, une, des are replaced by de or d’:

However, following the verb être, the indefinite articles un, une, des remain unchanged in the negative:

before a plural adjective

Before a plural adjective which precedes a noun, des usually becomes de. If the adjective comes after the noun, des does not change to de.

with adjectives of profession, nationality, and religion

Professions, nationalities and religions are considered adjectives in French and need no article after the verbs être and devenir.

Listen to the dialogue:

Voilà vs. il y a

Il y a and voilà are two ways of introducing nouns. They are translated into English as ‘there is / there are’ or ‘here is / here are.’

il y a

Il y a + noun usually indicates the existence of a person or a thing in the context of a particular setting. It is commonly translated as ‘there is’ or ‘there are.’ For example:

The negation of ‘il y a’ is il n’y a pas, ‘there is / are not’. You will also find these forms: il n’y a plus, ‘there is / are not anymore’, il n’y a jamais, ‘there is / are never’.

The verb avoir in the expression il y a may be conjugated in any tense or mood, for example, in the past (il y avait, ‘there was’) or in the future (il y aura, ‘there will be.’)

voilà / voici

Voilà + noun and voici + noun are commonly translated as ‘here is/are’. They are used to indicate the sudden appearance of something or someone, to introduce people or ideas. Alternating between voici and voilà is common when referring to more than one item.