Complete Guide to French Pronouns

1. Subject Pronouns (Les pronoms sujets)

These pronouns replace the subject of a sentence and indicate who is performing the action.

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Je	I	Je parle français. (I speak French.)
Tu	You (informal)	Tu es mon ami. (You are my friend.)
Il / Elle / On	He / She / One (or We, Informal)	Il chante bien. (He sings well.)
Nous	We	Nous allons à Paris. (We are going to Paris.)
Vous	You (formal/plural)	Vous êtes gentil. (You are kind.)
Ils / Elles	They (masculine/feminine)	Elles dansent. (They dance.)

These replace a noun that receives the action of the verb directly (without a preposition).

🔹 Special Note on “Le” and “La”

Le and La are also definite articles meaning “the” (e.g., le livre = the book, la maison = the house).
As direct object pronouns, they replace a noun:
- Je vois le chat. → Je le vois. (I see it/him.)
- Elle admire la peinture. → Elle la admire. (She admires it/her.)
Before a vowel sound, they become L’:
- Il aime la musique. → Il l’aime. (He loves it.)

These replace a noun that receives the action of the verb indirectly (introduced by “à”).

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Me / M'	To me	Il me parle. (He speaks to me.)
Te / T'	To you (informal)	Je te réponds. (I answer you.)
Lui	To him / To her	Il lui téléphone. (He calls him/her.)
Nous	To us	Il nous écrit. (He writes to us.)
Vous	To you (formal/plural)	Je vous envoie un message. (I send you a message.)
Leur	To them	Elle leur parle. (She speaks to them.)

Used with reflexive verbs where the subject and object are the same.

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Me / M'	Myself	Je me lave. (I wash myself.)
Te / T'	Yourself (informal)	Tu te réveilles. (You wake up.)
Se / S'	Himself / Herself / Itself	Il se couche. (He goes to bed.)
Nous	Ourselves	Nous nous amusons. (We are having fun.)
Vous	Yourself (formal) / Yourselves	Vous vous préparez. (You are getting ready.)
Se / S'	Themselves	Ils se parlent. (They talk to each other.)

These replace a noun to indicate possession.

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Le mien / La mienne / Les miens / Les miennes	Mine	Ce livre est le mien. (This book is mine.)
Le tien / La tienne / Les tiens / Les tiennes	Yours (informal)	Cette maison est la tienne. (This house is yours.)
Le sien / La sienne / Les siens / Les siennes	His / Hers	Ce chat est le sien. (This cat is his/hers.)
Le nôtre / La nôtre / Les nôtres	Ours	Ce problème est le nôtre. (This problem is ours.)
Le vôtre / La vôtre / Les vôtres	Yours (formal/plural)	Ce stylo est le vôtre. (This pen is yours.)
Le leur / La leur / Les leurs	Theirs	Ces voitures sont les leurs. (These cars are theirs.)

Used to point to something specific.

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Celui / Celle / Ceux / Celles	This one / That one / These / Those	J’aime celui-ci. (I like this one.)
Ceci	This	Ceci est intéressant. (This is interesting.)
Cela / Ça	That	Cela me fait plaisir. (That makes me happy.)

Used to introduce relative clauses.

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Qui	Who / Which	C’est l’homme qui parle. (He is the man who is speaking.)
Que	Whom / That	Le livre que je lis. (The book that I am reading.)
Dont	Whose / Of which	Le film dont je parle. (The movie I am talking about.)
Où	Where / When	La ville où je suis né. (The city where I was born.)

Used to ask questions.

Pronoun	English Equivalent	Example
Qui	Who	Qui est-ce ? (Who is it?)
Que / Qu'	What	Que veux-tu ? (What do you want?)
Lequel / Laquelle / Lesquels / Lesquelles	Which one(s)	Lequel préférez-vous ? (Which one do you prefer?)