Personal Subject Pronouns
English | French | Example |
---|---|---|
I | je | Je mange. — I eat. |
You (singular) | tu/vous | Tu manges. — You eat. |
He/It | il | Il mange. — He eats. |
She/It | elle | Elle mange. — She eats. |
Tu or Vous?
French has two words for the subject pronoun “you”: tu and vous. For a singular “you”, tu should only be used for friends, peers, relatives, children, or anyone else who’s very familiar to you. In all other cases and also for plurals, the more polite vous should be used to show respect. When in doubt, use vous.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Notice above that the verb manger (as well as its English equivalent, “to eat”) changes form to agree grammatically with the subject.
Subject | Manger (To Eat) | Être (To Be) | Avoir (To Have) |
---|---|---|---|
je | je mange — I eat | je suis — I am | j’ai — I have |
tu | tu manges — you eat | tu es — you are | tu as — you have |
il/elle/on | il mange — he eats | il est — he is | il a — he has |
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