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Brian is telling his friend Krista about the new exchange student from Montreal, Leah.
Krista: So, tell me about the new girl!
Brian: Leah is the new student in my French
class. Leah loves jazz music. Leah told us all about
poutine. Leah is going to help me study for the French test.
It sounds odd, doesn’t it? In a normal conversation, people don’t repeat the same subject in each sentence. Krista would understand that Brian is talking about Leah, so he wouldn’t need to say her name in each sentence. To avoid repetition, Brian would replace Leah with the subject pronoun she.
What is a subject pronoun?
A subject pronoun is a word such as I, he, she and they, which performs the action expressed by the verb. Pronouns stand in for nouns when it is clear who is being talked about, for example, Leah loves jazz music. She told us all about poutine.
Watch the video below for an introduction to French subject pronouns.
Bonjour tout le monde! Je m’appelle Vivienne, et aujourd’hui nous parlons des pronoms sujets. Today, we’re talking about subject pronouns. On commence! Let’s get started!
A subject is anything that does the action of the verb. A subject can be a person, an animal, a thing, a place, or an idea! Examples of subjects in French could be “Camille” or “le chien”.
A subject pronoun replaces another subject. For example, instead of repeating someone’s name over and over, you can use a pronoun. Paul loves Paris. He loves Paris. “He” is a subject pronoun. Let’s look at the subject pronouns in French.
Je means I. Repeat after me: Je. Très bien!
Tu means you. It is informal and singular. Give it a try: Tu. Bravo!
Il means he. Now you say it: Il. Bien!
Elle means she. Repeat after me: Elle. Super!
On means one or we. Your turn: On. Fantastique!
Nous means we. Got it? Nous. Très bien!
Vous means you. It can be either singular and formal or plural. Repeat after me: vous. Bravo!
Ils means they. It refers to plural masculine subjects or subjects composed of both masculine and feminine members. Repeat after me: ils. Super!
Elles also means they, but it is used when a group has only feminine subjects. Give it a try: elles. Fantastique! Now you’ve got it. Keep reading this lesson to learn more about subject pronouns. À bientôt!
Which one of these is NOT a subject pronoun in French?
- nous
- je
- el
- ils
Sorry, that is not correct. el is correct.
Sorry, that is not correct. el is correct.
Correct!
Sorry, that is not correct. el is correct.
Summary
Questions answered correctly:
Questions answered incorrectly:
