Pronouns and Verb Conjugation in French
* school french1. Pronouns
- On – the general "one"
- Commonly means "we" in informal speech.
- Can also mean "someone"*, "people in general", or **"they"
- Iel / Iels – gender-neutral pronoun(s)
- Used to refer to non-binary individuals
- Refers only to people, not objects.
- A recent development in modern French, not yet officially recognized by the Académie française.
- Qui
- When used as a subject pronoun (e.g. Qui est là ?), the verb is conjugated as with il/elle.
2. Conjugating Regular Verbs
2.1. Step 1: Remove the infinitive ending
- –er → e.g. parler → parl–
- –ir → e.g. finir → fin–
- –re → e.g. répondre → répond–
2.2. Step 2: Add the appropriate endings
| Pronoun | -er | -ir | -re |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | -e | -is | -s |
| tu | -es | -is | -s |
| il/elle/on | -e | -it | — |
| nous | -ons | -issons | -ons |
| vous | -ez | -issez | -ez |
| ils/elles | -ent | -issent | -ent |
2.3. Examples
- parler → je parle, tu parles, il parle
- finir → je finis, tu finis, elle finit
- répondre → je réponds, tu réponds, il répond
3. Elsewhere
3.1. References
3.2. In my garden
Notes that link to this note (AKA backlinks).