French Pronouns - Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

French has a complex system of personal pronouns (analogous to English I, we, they, and so on). When compared to English, the particularities of French personal pronouns include:

  • a T-V distinction in the second person singular (familiar tu vs. polite vous)
  • the placement of object pronouns before the verb: « Agnès les voit. » ("Agnès sees them.")
  • the existence of distinct pronouns for indirect objects and for certain prepositional objects
  • the use of a distinct disjunctive form, e.g. for emphasis (moi, toi, etc.).

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Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or pronouns:

    “Denouement to denouement, he took a personal pride in the
    certain, certain way he lived his own, private life,
    but nevertheless, they shut off his gas; nevertheless,
    the bank foreclosed; nevertheless, the landlord called;
    nevertheless, the radio broke,

    And twelve o’clock arrived just once too often,”
    —Kenneth Fearing (1902–1961)

    “In the meantime no sense in bickering about pronouns and other parts of blather.”
    —Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)