French pronouns help students avoid repeating nouns and make sentences sound more natural. This cheat sheet covers the most common pronoun groups used in middle and high school French. It is useful for quick review before writing, speaking, quizzes, and tests.
Students need it because pronoun choice and placement are two of the most common sources of errors.
Key Facts
- Subject pronouns are je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, and elles, and they replace the person or thing doing the verb.
- Stressed pronouns are moi, toi, lui, elle, soi, nous, vous, eux, and elles, and they are used after prepositions, for emphasis, and in short answers.
- Reflexive pronouns are me, te, se, nous, vous, and se, and they show that the subject does the action to itself, as in je me lave.
- Direct object pronouns are me, te, le, la, nous, vous, and les, and they answer who or what after the verb.
- Indirect object pronouns are me, te, lui, nous, vous, and leur, and they often answer to whom or for whom after verbs that use à.
- In a simple present tense sentence, most object and reflexive pronouns go before the conjugated verb, as in je le vois and elle se prépare.
- The pronoun y usually replaces à plus a place or thing, and the pronoun en usually replaces de plus a thing, amount, or partitive expression.
- With a conjugated verb plus an infinitive, the object pronoun usually goes before the infinitive, as in je vais le faire.
Vocabulary
- Subject pronoun
- A pronoun that replaces the noun performing the action of the verb.
- Stressed pronoun
- A pronoun used for emphasis, after prepositions, or by itself in short answers.
- Reflexive pronoun
- A pronoun used when the subject and object of the verb are the same person or thing.
- Direct object pronoun
- A pronoun that replaces the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb.
- Indirect object pronoun
- A pronoun that replaces a person receiving the action indirectly, often after the idea of to or for.
- Pronoun placement
- The position of a pronoun in a sentence, usually before the conjugated verb or before an infinitive.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using le, la, or les for an indirect object is wrong because indirect object pronouns for people are usually lui or leur.
- Putting the pronoun after the conjugated verb in a normal present tense sentence is wrong because French usually places object pronouns before the conjugated verb.
- Confusing leur and leurs is wrong because leur without s is an indirect object pronoun, while leurs with s is a possessive adjective.
- Using y for a person is wrong in most beginner and intermediate French because y usually replaces à plus a place or thing, not à plus a person.
- Forgetting agreement with past participles after a preceding direct object pronoun can be wrong in compound tenses, as in les fleurs que j'ai achetées.
Practice Questions
- 1 Rewrite these 2 sentences with the correct direct object pronoun: Je regarde le film. Nous achetons les billets.
- 2 Choose the correct pronoun in each of these 3 sentences: Je parle à Marie. Je vais à Paris. Je veux du pain.
- 3 Replace the repeated words with pronouns: Paul donne le livre à Sophie. Then write the sentence using both pronouns if you know the order.
- 4 Explain why Je lui parle and Je la regarde use different pronouns even though both can refer to the same person.