on

→ Esperanto: oni
→ Ido: onu

Inherited from Old French hom, om (nominative form), from Latin homō (“human being”) (compare homme from the Old French oblique form home, from the Latin accusative form hominem). Its pronominal use is of Germanic origin. Compare Old English man (“one, they, people”), reduced form of Old English mann (“person”); Catalan hom; German man (“one, they, people”); Dutch men (“one, they, people”). In the second sense, meaning "we", also compare the development Malay kita orang (“we (incl.) + person”) and the dialectal forms found in eastern Indonesia: kitorang, kitong, torang.

noncog

3 Also used when a group has both men and women

4 Also used as third person plural reflexive

2003, Natasha St. Pier, L’instant d’après (album), Quand on cherche l’amour (song)

On ne peut pas pêcher ici

(indefinite) one, people, you, someone (an unspecified individual)


y

10th century; from Old French i, from Latin hīc (“here”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰi-ḱe (“this, here”)), with meaning influenced by Old French iv (“there, thither”), itself from Latin ibī. Derivation from the latter poses difficulty from a phonetic standpoint. Compare Catalan hi.

der

adverbial phrase
adverbial phrase#English

Used as a pronoun to replace an adverbial phrase starting with à.

With verbs: see Appendix:French verbs followed by à for verbs which use this structure.


en

From Middle French en, from Old French en, from Latin in, from Proto-Italic *en, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”).

une chaise en hêtre

une fourchette en métal

of, made of (used to describe composition)


te

From Middle French te, from Old French te, from Latin tē, (accusative of tū), from Proto-Indo-European *twé, *te, accusative of *túh₂ (“you”).

Tu te souviens d’elle.

You remember her. (literally, “You remind yourself of her.”)


me

Middle French language
Old French language

From Middle French me, from Old French me, from Latin mē (accusative of ego), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁me- (“me”). Northern dialects have preserved a form mi for the indirect object (also found in Old French in the Oaths of Strasbourg), from Latin mihi, dative singular of ego, through a Vulgar Latin *mi, whereas in standard French, it has merged into me.

Est-ce que tu me vois ?

Émilien me donne un peu d’argent. ― Émilien gave some money to me.


lui

Haitian Creole: li

J’habitais avec lui.

C’est lui qui a dit cela.

Lui, il n’en sait rien.

Je crois aussi que je n’avais jamais si bien écouté, et que lui non plus n’avait jamais mis autant de patience à ses explications.

1873, Alphonse Daudet, Contes du Lundi, La Dernière Classe:

I believe also that I had never listened so well, and that neither had he ever put so much patience into his explanations.

him, he; the third-person masculine singular personal pronoun used after a preposition, or as the predicate of a linking verb, or when disjoined from a sentence, or as a stressed subject


se

From Middle French se, from Old French se, from Latin sē. See also soi.

me

The other reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronouns

soi

The third-person reflexive and reciprocal disjunctive pronoun

The third-person reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun.

Je suis partie à la chasse et faut vous autres se comportes bien.

I'm going hunting and y'all need to behave yourselves.

(Louisiana) The second-person plural reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun.


la

From Middle French la, from Old French la, from Latin illam, which is the accusative singular feminine of ille.

Où est Judith ? Je ne la vois pas.

Prends cette boîte et mets-la dans le coin.


ce

Inherited from Old French ço, from Late Latin ecce hoc.

C’est beau !

est-ce que...?

forms yes–no questions (literally, “is it that...?”)

ce dont je parlais

C’eût été avec plaisir, mais...

It would have been with pleasure, but...

C’eût été dommage...

predicative adjective
predicative adjective

(subject of être, with predicative adjectives or relative clauses, singular only) it, this, that (see § Usage notes, below)


tu

head

tu (second person informal singular, plural vous, object te, emphatic toi, possessive determiner ton)

vous (plural)
toi (emphatic)
ton (determiner possessive)

From Old French tu, from Latin tū, from Proto-Italic *tū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.
Cognates with the exact same usage are the Italian tu, as well as du in German or ты in Russian.


je

je (first person singular, plural nous, object me, emphatic moi, possessive determiner mon)

nous (plural)
moi (emphatic)
mon (determiner possessive)

From Middle French je, from Old French je, from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.


nous

nous (first-person plural, singular je, object nous, emphatic nous, possessive determiner notre)

je (singular)
nous (emphatic)
notre (determiner possessive)

Inherited from Middle French nous, from Old French nous, nos, from Latin nōs, from Proto-Italic *nōs.
In several dialects of French, je may be used instead of nous (j'allons instead of nous allons, je voyons instead of nous voyons etc.), this use was perceived as peasant-like and thus often mocked since the 15th century (for example by Molière). However this use survived and spread in various regions of the so-called domaine d'oïl (linguistic area starting above Auvergne where the oïl varieties of Romance developed from the 4th or 5th century). The regions of France where this use of je (from Latin ego "I") instead of nous, nos (from Latin nos, "we") was recorded are Normandy, Romance-speaking Brittany, Poitou and Anjou, Champagne, Ardennes, Bourgogne and Franche-Comté, Dauphiné, Berry, Touraine, Orléanais, Bourbonnais, Maine.
See cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin je and nous, Bourbonnais-Berrichon je and nous, Bourguignon i and nous, Champenois ju and nous, Franc-Comtois i and nôs, Gallo je and nouz, Lorrain nos, Norman je and nos, Orléanais je and nous, Picard nos, Poitevin-Saintongeais i/jhe and nous, Franco-Provençal nos, Occitan nosautres (Provençal nousautes), Catalan nosaltres, Corsican noi.

the plural personal pronoun in the first person:


il

il m (third-person singular, plural ils, accusative le, dative lui, emphatic lui, possessive determiner son)

ils (plural)
le (accusative)
lui (dative)
lui (emphatic)
son (determiner possessive)

From Middle French il, from Old French il, from Late Latin illī.

Il pleut.

(impersonal pronoun) Impersonal subject; it


le

le m (feminine la, masculine and feminine plural les, prevocalic masculine or feminine singular l’)

la (feminine)
les (feminine masculine plural)

From Middle French le, from Old French le, from Latin illum, by dropping il- and -m. Latin illum is the accusative singular of ille.

L’amour est aveugle.

Used before abstract nouns; not translated in English.


vous

vous (second-person plural and second-person formal singular, informal singular tu, object vous, emphatic vous, possessive determiner votre)

tu (informal singular)
vous (emphatic)
votre (determiner possessive)

Inherited from Middle French vous, from Old French vos, vous, from Latin vōs, from Proto-Italic *wōs.
See cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin, Bourbonnais-Berrichon, Bourguignon, Champenois, Lorrain, Orléanais, and Poitevin-Saintongeais vous; Franc-Comtois vôs; Gallo vouz; Norman and Franco-Provençal vos; Picard os; Occitan vosautres (Provençal vousautes); Catalan vosaltres; Corsican voi.
Other cognates with the same usage are voi in Italian as well as вы in Russian.

cog

Vous allez

the plural personal pronoun in the second person:

Je vous adore.

Je vous donnerai mon adresse.

I will give you my address / I will give my address to you.

Monsieur, je ne peux pas vous le dire

(formal, polite) plural or singular personal pronoun in the second person:


eux

From Old French els, from Latin illos, which is the accusative plural of ille.


l'

(before a vowel or mute h) Apocopic form of le, la: the

À la manifestation, / on rêvait d’révolution / se gelant l’cul avec une poignée de comparses / sous la pluie froide du mois d’mars

2002, Jean-François Pauzé (lyrics and music), “La Manifestation”, in Break Syndical:

At the demonstration, / we dreamed o' revolution / freezing da asses off with a handful of cronies / in the cold rain of March

(Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial, after a vowel) Apocopic form of le: the


l'

(before a vowel or mute h) Apocopic form of le, la: him, her, it

Icitte y’a papa qui se r’met / fe sa p’tite opération / t’aurais du l’voir, y fakait / fallait l’traiter aux p’tits oignons

2002, Jean-François Pauzé, Marie-Annick Lépine (lyrics and music), “Toune d'automne”, in Break Syndical:

Here's Dad recoverin' / doin' his lil operation / you shoulda seen him, he was doin' it / you hadda treat him like a pro

(Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial, after a vowel) Apocopic form of le: him, it


moi

Inherited from Middle French moy, from Old French mei, moi, mi (“me”), tonic form of me, from Latin mē (“me”), from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)me-, *(h₁)me-n- (“me”). More at me.
See cognates in regional languages in France: Norman mei; Gallo mai; Picard moè; Bourguignon moi; Franco-Provençal mè; Occitan and Corsican me.

me (first-person singular direct object pronoun)

to me (first-person singular indirect object pronoun)


t'

Je t’ai vu.

T’as vu mon frère ?


lea

lea gender-neutral (canonical)
les (plural)

Je ne lea vois pas souvent.


qui

Inherited from Middle French qui, from Old French qui, from Latin quī.

Qui elle en a, ça va faire.


que

Inherited from Latin quid, usurping some of the roles of Latin quod.

Je vois que tu parles bien français.

Si on s’en allait tout là-haut, si on prenait de la hauteur, tu verrais que le monde est beau, beau.

If we went all the way up there, if we got higher, you would see that the world is beautiful, beautiful.

that (introduces a subordinate noun clause and connects it to its parent clause)

—Quelle grande bête, avec tout son esprit, que votre marquise, pour vous avoir dit pareille chose! — fit la duchesse […].

1874, Barbey d'Aurevilly, ‘Le Bonheur dans le crime’, Les Diaboliques:

‘What a beast your marquise is, for all her spirit, for having told you such a thing!’ said the duchess.

Quelle belle fleur que la rose! dit-elle soudain, alors qu’aucune rose n’était en vue […].

1918, Jean Giradoux, Simon le pathétique:

‘What a beautiful flower the rose is!’ she said suddenly, though no rose was in sight.

Links two noun phrases in apposition forming a clause without a (finite) verb, such that the complement acts as predicate.


que

Je ne mange que des fruits.

Nous souhaitons la vérité et ne trouvons en nous qu’incertitude. Nous recherchons le bonheur et ne trouvons que misère et mort.

c. 1656–1662, Blaise Pascal, “Dossier de travail - Fragment n° 19 / 35”, in Pensées [Thoughts]:

We hope for truth and find in ourselves nothing but uncertainty. We search again for happiness and find only misery and death.

(used with ne) only, just; but, nothing but


que

Inherited from Latin quid, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis. Doublet of quoi 'what', the tonic/emphasized counterpart, hence diphthongized.

Que pensez-vous de cette peinture ?

Qu’auriez-vous fait d’autre ?

Qu’a-t-on fait de la vérité ?

(slightly formal, accusative) The inanimate direct-object interrogative pronoun.

Qu’est-il arrivé ?

Que me vaut cette visite ?

Que sommes-nous ?

(slightly formal, nominative) The inanimate subject or predicative interrogative pronoun.


que

C’est un homme que je connais très bien.

Je viens de lire la lettre que vous m’avez envoyée.

I've just read the letter that you sent me.

(accusative, relative) The direct object relative pronoun.


toi

Inherited from Middle French toi, tei, from Old French tei, te, from Latin tē.

J’ai besoin de toi.

Et toi, ça va comment ?

Souviens-toi de ce qui est vraiment important.

Attends, tu m’as dit qu’il y a dans cette maison plus de deux-cents livres. Est-ce qu’ils sont tous à toi ?

Wait, you told me that there are more than two hundred books in this house. Are they all yours?

Toi, t’es quelque chose de différent.

Psalm 71:5

For you are my hope, Eternal Lord! In you I entrust myself since my youth.

Car tu es mon espérance, Seigneur Éternel! En toi je me confie dès ma jeunesse.

Oh, Achab, cria Starbuck, il n’est pas trop tard, même maintenant, le troisième jour, pour renoncer. Vois, Moby Dick ne te cherche pas. C’est toi, toi qui la cherches follement.

1996, Herman Melville, translated by Lucien Jacques, Joan Smith, and Jean Giono, Moby Dick, Gallimard, →ISBN, page 722:

"Oh, Ahab," cried Starbuck, "it's not too late, even now, on the third day, to give up. See, Moby Dick isn't looking for you. It is you, you who seeks her madly."

you (informal second-person singular personal pronoun)


ils

head

ils m pl (third-person plural, singular il, accusative les, dative leur, emphatic eux, possessive determiner leur)

il (singular)
les (accusative)
leur (dative)
eux (emphatic)
leur (determiner possessive)

Inherited from Vulgar Latin illī, which sounded il in Old French, to which a plural -s was added. While il was the nominative form from late Latin, els, eus was the oblique form ("them") that had evolved from late Latin illōs, and is the ancestor of modern French eux.
In Old French, "they", being a nominative, was il from late Latin *illi, thus it didn't have the final -s, thus it was il used both for "he" and "they". The -s was added at the end of the 13th century in some regions, at the time the declension system of Old French started to collapse. As a consequence, some oïl languages in France have retained the original Old French il-form, and in some other regions, the ils-form supplanted the older one. Some dialects have even retained both forms depending on the locals.
See cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin, Champenois, Lorrain, and Orléanais is; Bourbonnais-Berrichon ils; Bourguignon âs; Franc-Comtois and Poitevin-Saintongeais és; Gallo i and iz; Norman i and is; Picard is and i; Franco-Provençal ils; Occitan els (Gascon eus); Catalan ells; Corsican elli.


elle

head

elle f (third-person singular, plural elles, accusative la, dative lui, emphatic elle, possessive determiner son)

elles (plural)
la (accusative)
lui (dative)
elle (emphatic)
son (determiner possessive)

Inherited from Old French ele, from Latin illa, feminine of ille.

Voilà ma voiture. Elle a cinq ans.

it (feminine gender third-person singular subject pronoun)


leur

Inherited from Middle French leur, from Old French lor, from Latin illōrum, genitive masculine plural of ille.
As a possessive it was originally uninflected (as still is Italian loro), but adopted the plural ending in Middle French. Feminine -e was hindered by the analogy of other possessives, all of which have but one plural form and in the case of notre, votre no gender agreement at all.

J’aperçois leur maison d’ici.

1 Also used before feminine adjectives and nouns beginning with a vowel

For the singular persons there are gender-neutral neologisms man


quoi

From Latin quid; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis. Cognate to English what, which differs due to changing under Grimm’s law.

Alors, ce mec m’a dit de te donner son porte-monnaie, quoi.

So, this guy, like, told me to give you his wallet.


iel

iel gender-neutral (third-person singular, plural iels, accusative lea or lae, dative lui, emphatic ellui, possessive determiner son)

iel gender-neutral (canonical)
iels (plural)
lea (accusative)
lae (accusative)
lui (dative)
ellui (emphatic)
son (determiner possessive)

[…]; les jours où iels n’avaient pas l’occasion de parler un peu, juste tous les deux, iel se sentait vide.

2014, Carina Rozenfeld, La Symphonie des abysses, Robert Laffont, book 1:

[…]; on days when they didn't have the opportunity to talk a little, just the two of them, they felt empty.

Ainsi démarra la journée d’Emil. Iel suivait bien évidement les conseils de sa mère, continuant à affirmer qu’iel était un garçon, ce qui jusque là n’avait jamais été démenti.

2016 March 4, Olivia B. Smith, Witch Hunt, Partie 1 : Le Legacy d’Olivia:

That's how Emil's day started. They naturally followed the advice of their mother and continued to say that they were a boy, which had never been contested until that point.

Pour les Ferreux.
Pour Ferenusia, découvert en même temps qu’Antoinette, quand iel avait débarqué à Paris un an auparavant.
Pour iel-mêmes [sic], aussi.

2017, Cindy Van Wilder, chapter 19, in Les Outrepasseurs, volume 4 Férénusia, Gulf stream éditeur:

For the Ferrous.
For Ferenusia, discovered at the same time as Antoinette, when they had arrived in Paris a year earlier.
For themselves, too.

Tout architecte se doit d’être complètement responsable des conditions et conséquences politiques des projets qu’iel accepte; toute position qui ferait de lui ou d’elle un.e simple exécutant·e constituerait une insulte à sa fonction et à sa capacité d’agir.

2019 December 20, “Casbah d’Alger : lettre ouverte à Jean Nouvel”, in L’Humanité:

Every architect must be completely responsible for the conditions and political consequences of the projects that they accept; any position which would make him or her a simple executor would constitute an insult to their function and to their ability to act.

(gender-neutral, neologism) they (singular). A gender-neutral singular third-person subject personal pronoun.


quel

fr-det

quel m (feminine quelle, masculine plural quels, feminine plural quelles)

quelle (feminine)
quels (masculine plural)
quelles (feminine plural)

Inherited from Middle French quel, from Old French quel, from Latin quālis.

Quelle catastrophe !

Quelle surprise !

Quelle horreur !

Quelle horrible personne !

what, what a (used to form exclamations)


soi

Inherited from Old French sei, accented form of se, from Latin sē (in accented position), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun). More at se. Cognate with Italian sé, Portuguese si, Spanish sí.

inh

Designating or reinforcing a reflexive (direct) object or the regime of a preposition

Occasionally representing other pronouns, e.g. ourselves, or translated according to the referenced indefinite subject

Near-synonym: soi-même

Pourquoi ne pense-t-on qu’à soi ?

(rare) nominative pronoun reinforcing indefinite or very generalized subject; one


m'

Je m'appelle Marcel.

Donne-m'en deux.

(in certain contexts) prevocalic form of moi


lequel

fr-pron

lequel m (feminine laquelle, masculine plural lesquels, feminine plural lesquelles)

laquelle (feminine)
lesquels (masculine plural)
lesquelles (feminine plural)

Passe-moi le ballon. ― Lequel ? Il y en a trois.

Pass me the ball. — Which one? There are three of them.


s'

S’il vous plaît

Please / Here you are. (literally, “If it pleases you.”)

S’il te plaît.

Please / Here you are (literally, “If it pleases you.”)

Je ne sais pas s’ils viendront demain.

I don’t know if they will come tomorrow.


s'

Il s’habille.

Il s’aime.

Ils s’aiment.

They love themselves. / They love each other.

Elision of se before a word beginning with a vowel.

Y s’bouge le cul ou quoi?

(informal) Elision of se before a word beginning with a consonant.


le sien

le sien m (feminine la sienne, masculine plural les siens, feminine plural les siennes)

la sienne (feminine)
les siens (masculine plural)
les siennes (feminine plural)

Je n’avais pas de crayon, alors Paul m’a prêté le sien.

I didn't have a pencil, so Paul lent me his.

Je n’avais pas de crayon, alors Marie m’a prêté le sien.

I didn't have a pencil, so Marie lent me hers.


qu'est-ce que

Qu’est-ce que tu fais ?

What are you doing? / What do you do? / What is it that you do?

Qu’est-ce qu’il a mangé ?

what, what is it that (used as an interrogative for a direct object)

Qu’est-ce que la liberté ?

Qu’est-ce qu’un blog ?

what is (used as an interrogative for a definition)


ce que

Savez-vous ce qu’il dit ?

Savez-vous ce que vous faites ?

(accusative, interrogative) what (in indirect questions)


ce qui

Je ne sais pas ce qui y est écrit.

I don't know what it says [lit. is written].

Savez-vous ce qui arrive ?

(nominative, interrogative) what (in indirect questions, subject)


le leur

le leur m (feminine la leur, plural les leurs)

Non, ce n’est pas leur fils. Le leur est plus jeune.

No, that's not their son. Theirs is younger.


le nôtre

le nôtre m (feminine la nôtre, plural les nôtres)

Leur appartement est plus grand que le nôtre.


le vôtre

le vôtre m (feminine la vôtre, plural les vôtres)

yours (the one belonging to you, plural or formal)


le mien

le mien m (feminine la mienne, masculine plural les miens, feminine plural les miennes)

la mienne (feminine)
les miens (masculine plural)
les miennes (feminine plural)

Votre père sait comment s’appellent tous ses vingt collègues de bureau et le mien peut guère rappeler les noms de ses trois enfants.

Your father knows the names of all his 20 colleagues and mine can hardly recall the names of his 3 children.


le tien

le tien m (feminine la tienne, masculine plural les tiens, feminine plural les tiennes)

la tienne (feminine)
les tiens (masculine plural)
les tiennes (feminine plural)

C’est mon stylo ou le tien ?

yours; the one belonging to you (singular)


ellui

(gender-neutral, neologism) (disjunctive of iel) them


elleux

head

elleux gender-neutral pl (singular ellui)

elleux gender-neutral (canonical plural)
ellui (singular)

(gender-neutral, neologism) Them. A gender-neutral personal pronoun (third-person plural disjunctive).