Subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles

Personal Subject Pronouns in French

In French, verbs always change depending on who is doing the action.

That’s why personal subject pronouns are essential — they tell us who the subject is.

The Subject Pronouns

Here are the main French subject pronouns:

👉 In French, you must almost always use the subject pronoun, because verb endings depend on it.

✂️ Elision: je → j’

When je comes before a vowel or silent “h”, it becomes j’.

Examples:

• je aime → j’aime
• je habite → j’habite

This is called elision, and it makes pronunciation smoother.

Formal vs Informal “You”

French has two ways to say you:

• tu → informal (friends, family, children)
• vous → formal (strangers, professional situations) OR plural

Think of vous as: 👉 polite singular OR “you all”

The Special Pronoun: on

on is very common in spoken French.

It:

• conjugates like il / elle (3rd person singular)
• often means “we” in everyday speech

Example:

• On mange = We eat / We are eating

In conversation, French speakers often say: 👉 on instead of nous