In short

Subject pronouns tell you who does the action (I, you, he…) and sit right before the verb. French has a special extra one, on, and it splits “you” into an informal tu and a formal/plural vous.

The rule

Every French verb needs a subject. Learn these seven slots - they drive the whole conjugation system.

The core pronouns:

• je (I) - lowercase inside a sentence; elides to j’ before a vowel or a silent h: j’ai, j’habite.
• tu (you, one person, informal)
• il (he / it - masculine), elle (she / it - feminine)
• nous (we)
• vous (you - formal, or several people)
• ils (they - masculine or mixed), elles (they - all feminine)

Every noun has a gender, so a thing is il or elle, never “it”: le livre -> il, la table -> elle. (More in Lesson 2.)

Agreement of ils / elles. Use elles only when every person or thing in the group is feminine. As soon as one masculine element is present, the whole group becomes ils: Marie et Anne -> elles, but Marie et Paul -> ils.

The pronoun on (= we / people in general)

on is a hugely common pronoun with two everyday uses:

• Informal “we” - in speech, French speakers say on far more than nous: On y va ! (Let’s go / We’re going).
• “people / one / they” in general - an unnamed subject: En France, on dîne tard. (In France, people eat dinner late.)

Key rule: on always takes the same verb form as il/elle (third person singular), even when it means “we”: On est prêts. (We’re ready.) Notice the verb is singular (est) although an adjective describing a plural “we” can still go plural (prêts).

tu vs vous (informal vs formal)

French has two ways to say “you” to a single person:

• tu - informal: family, friends, children, classmates, animals.
• vous - formal or respectful: a stranger, an older person, a boss, a shopkeeper, anyone you don’t know well.

vous is also the plural “you” for any group, informal or formal: Vous venez, les amis ? (Are you coming, friends?)

When in doubt with one person, start with vous - it is polite and safe. A French speaker may then invite you to switch with On peut se tutoyer ? (Can we use tu?).

Forms & patterns

How each pronoun pairs with a verb (here être, to be - see Lesson 7):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je ai un chien -> J’ai un chien - je must elide to j’ before a vowel sound.
• Marie et Paul, elles arrivent -> ils arrivent - a mixed group becomes ils, not elles.
• On sommes prêts -> On est prêts - on takes the il/elle (singular) verb form.
• Tu êtes en retard (to a stranger) -> Vous êtes en retard - use vous to be polite with someone you don’t know.
• La table ? Il est là. -> La table ? Elle est là. - use elle for a feminine noun: a thing is il or elle by gender, never a neutral “it”.
• Je suis d’accord, Je pense… -> je lowercase mid-sentence - unlike English “I”, je is not capitalized unless it starts the sentence.

Tips

• Say on instead of nous in casual speech - it sounds far more natural: On mange ?
• The verb after on is always singular, the same form as with il/elle.
• With one person you don’t know, default to vous; wait to be invited to tu.
• vous covers two jobs: formal “you” (one person) and plural “you” (any group).
• Choose ils the moment a group contains anyone masculine; keep elles for all-feminine groups.
• Learn each pronoun together with its verb ending - French verbs change shape for every person (Lessons 6-7).