Subject Pronouns

A subject pronoun has number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine). It also has person (first, second, or third).

• First person is the one who is speaking: je (I) singular or nous (we) plural
• Second person is the one who is addressed: tu (you) singular or vous (you) plural or singular / formal.
• Third person is the one spoken of: il (he or it) masculine or elle (she or it) feminine; ils or elles (them) plural.

It may help you to remember it this way: "I think you understand that he has a problem." Each subject pronoun has a verb that agrees with it. Je pense que tu comprends qu'il a un problème—I am the speaker, you are being spoken to, and he is being spoken of. Learn these subject pronouns par cœur (by heart):

* On may also be used similarly to the English "we," "they," or "you" in sentences such as "They say it will rain tomorrow." However, even when translated as such, on always takes the third-person singular verb.

As in English, the subject and the verb must agree. Examples:

In English the pronoun you can be either singular or plural. In French the singular form tu is used to address one person of the family, a close friend, or a member of your peer group. Vous can be either singular or plural when addressing an adult or adults who are not close friends or family members. It is never appropriate to use tu for strangers. When in doubt, use vous. For your own age group it's fine to use tu for one person. Plural is always vous.

Stressed Pronouns

The independent pronouns that we call stressed pronouns are as follows:

moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles

These pronouns play several important roles in the French language. You only need to recognize a few of them just now.

1. Since French doesn't use the voice to emphasize certain words in a sentence as English does, we use a stress pronoun to produce the same effect. It may never replace the subject pronoun. It will be added to the subject. Examples: Moi je déteste le poisson! (I hate fish!) Mon père lui, il aime le poisson. (Dad loves fish.) The addition of the stress pronoun puts the emphasis on the subject of the sentence.
2. It may be a one-word answer to a question. Qui veut un coke? Moi! Nous! Lui! Elle! (Who wants a Coke? I! We! He! She!)
3. It is used for a double (compound) subject: Lui et moi nous allons à l'épicerie. Note that the regular subject pronoun is used to sum up the double subject (He and I—we are going to the grocery).
4. It is used as the object of a preposition. Chez moi, chez toi, chez lui, chez elle, etc. (At the home of me, you, him, her, etc.; that is, at my house, your house, his house, her house, etc.) .