French Subject Pronouns - Les Pronoms Sujets

Les Pronoms Sujets

A subject pronoun is a word that indicates who or what is performing the action expresses by the verb.

Subject pronouns replaces a subject noun in order to avoid repetition.

Par Exemple...

Je vais au marché.	I am going to market.
Il visite le château.	He visits the castle.

Using French Subject Pronouns

Subject Pronouns are determined by :

Number : It is divided into "singular" (one) and "plural" (more than one).
Person : includes 
                first person (the speaker)                                                       :  I , We
                second person (the listener)                                                  :  You

                third person  (the person or thing we are talking about) : He, She, It, They

Person	Singular		Plural
1st	Je	I	Nous	We
2nd	Tu	You	Vous	You
3rd	Il	He	Ils	They (mas.)
	Elle	She	Elles	They (fem.)
	On	One,we,they

Je

- In French, Je means I.

- Je is capitalized only when it is used in the beginning of  a sentence.

- Je change to J' in front of words beginning with a vowel, most words beginning with h , and the french word y.

Par exemple (for example) :

J’écoute la radio.	I’m listening to the radio.
Non, je n’écoute pas la radio.	No, I don’t listen to the radio.
J’y crois pas.	I do not believe.
J’habite à Paris.	I live in Paris.

Tu or Vous

In French, we have two words for "you" :

Tu and Vous

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Il / Elle  

Il	Elle
Il meaning he, it	Elle meaning she, it
Il is used to talk about a thing, a person, or an animal.	Elle is used to talk about a thing, a person, or an animal.
Il replace the masculine noun.	Elle replace the feminine noun.
Exemple : John veut aller au marché. - Il veut aller au marché. ( John wants to go to market. – He wants to go to market.)	Exemple : Sophie est belle. Elle est belle. (Sophie is beautiful. -  She is beautiful.)

Il is also used to talk about :

The Weather

• Il fait chaud.
• Il pleut.
• Il fait froid.

The Time

• Il est trois heures.
• Il est midi. (noon)
• Il est onze heures quinze.  (11h45)

In certain set phrases :

• Il faut que tu viennes à l'heure.                        You have to come on time.
• Il faut que je suis prudent.                                 I need to be careful.
• Il faut partir.                                                         We must go.

Ils / Elles

Il	Elle
Ils meaning they. (3rd person, plural)	Elles meaning they. (3rd person, plural)
Ils is used in the plural to talk about things, persons, or animals.	Elles is used in the plural to talk about things, persons, or animals.
Ils is used for the masculine noun.	Elles is used for the feminine noun.
Exemple : John et Paul  finissent leur jeu. - Ils finissent leur jeu. ( John e Paul  are finishing their game. – They are finishing their game.)	Exemple : Anne et Sophie sont belles. - Elles sont belles. (Anne and Sophie are beautiful.  They are beautiful.)

- After reading the above lesson, it is clear that 

Ils is used masculine nouns and masculine gender groups .
Elles is used for feminine nouns and feminine gender groups.

- But what about mixed group gender ?

Mixed gender groups are those having : one or more man and one or more women.

Mixed Gender Group 

Ils : it is default for the plural groups :

        - one man and one woman. (equal number)

        - two men and one woman. (majority of male / masculine noun)

        - group of man / masculine nouns.

        - unknown gender. (unknown number of men and women in a group.)

Elles : it is used for :

            - a group of women / feminine nouns.

            - a group having majority of women.

On

On is a notable case.

- On can be a replacement for an informal "we".

- Sometimes, on can mean "you" , "they" , "general people".

- In any case, on is always conjugated as third person singular.