1. Subject Pronouns

2. Subjects Every sentence has a subject.
You can tell WHO or What the subject is by asking yourself WHO is doing something.

3. Subjects
The subject may be:
A noun
A proper noun
A pronoun

4. Subject pronouns
Singular 1st person: I Je / J’… Je suis intelligent!

5. Subject pronouns You = VOUS (Formal address) 2nd person: You Tu
Singular
2nd person: You Tu
You = VOUS
(Formal address)
Singular “YOU” is tricky for English speakers. Although You is Tu most of the time, it switched to VOUS if it is a formal; address, that is a grown up or sme one you do not know and need to mark a distance to or respect to.

6. Singular You informal Tu t’appelles comment?
For example when you ask a friend: what’s your name? in French it will be “what are you called?” , you will use “tu”

7. Singular You formal Vous vous appelez comment?
But! When you ask the same question to a grown up or someone formally, you will use: VOUS

8. Singular You informal Pierre, tu aimes la musique?
You will be Tu when you ask you friend Pierre or your brother Pierre : do you like music? Tu is the equivalent of
the word thou which is a second person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in almost all contexts by you. thou was used to express intimacy, familiarity, or even disrespect. thou fell into disuse in the standard language.

9. Singular You formal Monsieur, vous aimez la musique?
But! When you ask the same question to a grown up or someone formally, you will use: VOUS. It is a mark of respect to use VOUS instead of TU.

10. Subject pronouns Singular 3rd person: he il she elle
Note that IT cannot exist because every thing in French, animate or inanimate , has a gender: it is either masculine: he or feminine elle

11. il or elle
Il est adorable ; elle est adorable

12. il or elle le stylo la règle il est bleu elle est jaune
As it does not exist because everything has a gender, you will choose between Il and elle for objects also.

13. ON On = 3rd person singular subject pronoun
On = same conjugation as il or elle
On is used in French where the passive voice is used in English. Note how : Englsih spoken becomes On parle. On makes the verb active while keeping the meaning of people in general.

14. ON
While it conjugates like a 3rd person singular, it means: you, we or they; people in general
= ONE
On mange
On pense
It is also the equivalent of the ONE in old English:One eats: one age, One thinks; on pense

15. Plural Subject pronouns
1st person plural: We Nous
Nous jouons
We play: nous jouons

16. Plural : You 2nd person plural: You (you all) VOUS
Because you is both singular and plural, various English dialects have attempted to revive the distinction between a singular and plural you to avoid confusion between the two uses. This is typically done by adding a new plural form; examples of new plurals sometimes seen and heard are y'all, or you-all (primarily in the southern United States. In French this plural you is the same as the formal form of TU

17. Plural YOU Vous Vous Singular/ formal Plural
Although this may be be cnfusing to English speakers, the singular VOUS (formal) is the same thing as the plural VOUS

18. They 3rd person plural Ils or elles
They can be either ils with an s or elle with an s.
The golden rule in French is that the masculine rules ver the feminine.

19. They 3rd person plural Ils elles
They can be either ils with an s or elle with an s.
The golden rule in French is that the masculine rules ver the feminine.
If it is a grup pf boys it will be “Ils” with an s
If it is a group pf girls with one boy, it will also be ils
Only a group with girls nly will be elles.

20. They 3rd person plural le stylo + la règle 2 règles = ils = elles
Remember this applies to inanimate objects.
The golden rule in French is that the masculine rules over the feminine.
If it is a group of masculine nouns it will be “Ils” with an s
If it is a group of feminine nouns with one masculine, it will also be ils . Feminien only will be elles.

21. Nouns or proper nouns as subjects
The subject may be a noun :
Mon amie = elle
Mes copains = ils
Les concerts = ils

22. Nouns or proper nouns as subjects
The subject may be a proper noun :
Marie = elle
Marc, Marie et Martine = ils

23. Nouns or proper nouns as subjects
Ma famille et Moi = nous
Ton frère et toi = vous
Mes amis et moi =nous
Watch out for logical connections: My family and I would make WE
Your brother and yoourself would make you, my friends and I = we

24. Subjects Pronouns Singular Plural 1 Je nous 1 vous 2 3 il / elle ONtu
or vous formal
vous
il / elle ON
ils / elles 3

25. Stress Subjects Pronouns
Singular Plural
MOI, Je
Nous, nous
Toi, tu
vous, vous
Vous , vous
Lui, il (elle, elle)
Eux, ils (elles, elles)
The French like to stress their subject pronouns. Instead f just saying I , tthey like to accentuate it, or stress by saying: moi je.
It is useful to memorize these stress pronouns:

26. Practice Which subject pronoun? Marie va à l’école
Mon frère et moi aimons les bonbons
Mon frère et ses amis travaillent
Ma famille est grande

27. Practice Which subject pronoun? Marie = ELLE Mon frère et moi = NOUS
Mon frère et ses amis = ILS
Ma famille est grande = Elle
Ma famille is a single entity. Therefore it is “it”= elle singular.