Rule 1: French personal pronouns refer to "who" or "what" in the sentence. They always agree in number and gender with the noun they represent. There are five of them: subject pronouns, direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, stressed pronouns, and reflexive pronouns.
You are already familiar with the [object Promise] - so let's focus on the rest of the personal pronouns today.
Direct Object Pronouns
Rule 2: The direct object pronoun replaces a noun (person or thing) that comes directly after the verb (without prepositions).
Here's the list of the French direct object pronouns:
| 1. Person Singular | me |
| 2. Person Singular | te |
| 3. Person Singular | la, le |
| 1. Person Plural | nous |
| 2. Person Plural | vous |
| 3. Person Plural | les |
Note: Before a vowel or a mute h, me, te, le, la become m‘, t‘, l‘.
Position of the Direct Object Pronouns
Rule 3: The direct object pronouns come:
- before the conjugated verb
- before the conjugated auxiliary verb in the passé composé or plus que parfait
- before the infinitive
Indirect Object Pronouns
Rule 4: The indirect object pronoun replaces a noun and the preposition à.
Here's the list of the French indirect object pronouns:
| 1. Person Singular | me |
| 2. Person Singular | te |
| 3. Person Singular | lui |
| 1. Person Plural | nous |
| 2. Person Plural | vous |
| 3. Person Plural | leur |
As you can see, these are pretty similar to the direct object pronouns.
Note: Before a vowel or a mute h, me, te become m‘, t‘. Also, lui and leur replace both feminine and masculine nouns.
Position of the Indirect Object Pronouns
Rule 5: The indirect object pronouns come:
- before the conjugated verb
- before the conjugated auxiliary verb in the passé composé or plus que parfait
- before the infinitive
Stressed Pronouns
Rule 6: The stressed pronouns are used for emphasis. Here's the list of them:
| 1. Person Singular | moi |
| 2. Person Singular | toi |
| 3. Person Singular | lui, elle, soi |
| 1. Person Plural | nous |
| 2. Person Plural | vous |
| 3. Person Plural | eux, elles |
They are mainly used in the following cases:
- After c’est and ce sont:
- Before the subject pronoun
- After a preposition
- When comparing, after que
Rule 7: Soi is used when the subject is indefinite or neutral:
Reflexive Pronouns
Rule 8: Reflexive pronouns are the pronouns are used with reflexive verbs to say "oneself." They always relate to the subject of the sentence.
Here's the list of the French reflexive pronouns:
| 1. Person Singular | me |
| 2. Person Singular | te |
| 3. Person Singular | se |
| 1. Person Plural | nous |
| 2. Person Plural | vous |
| 3. Person Plural | se |
Note: Before a vowel and a mute h, me, te, se become m‘, t‘, s‘.
Position of the Reflexive Pronouns
Rule 9: The reflexive pronouns come:
- before the conjugated verb
- before the conjugated auxiliary verb in the passé composé or plus que parfait
- before the infinitive
Quiz
1/4Martha et Marc ont mangé la tarte. Marta et _ ont mangé la tarte.