French personal subject pronouns (je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles)

Je parle français. Elle parle anglais.I speak French. She speaks English.

The French personal subject pronouns — je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles — tell you who the subject of the verb is, and French normally puts one before the conjugated verb.

(ce / c' and ça are also subject pronouns — C'est intéressant, Ça marche — but they work differently and belong with C'est / ce sont vs il / elle est.)

Quick shortcut: je (I), tu (you, one person you know), il / elle (he/she, also it), on (we, in everyday speech), nous (we), vous (you — formal, or more than one), ils / elles (they).

The pronouns

The -s on nous, vous, ils, elles is silent, but it links onto a following vowel as a /z/ sound: vous‿avez, ils‿ont, elles‿écoutent.

je becomes j' before a vowel

Before a verb starting with a vowel or a silent h, je drops its e and joins on as j':

• j'ai (I have), j'habite (I live), j'écoute (I listen)
• but je parle, je regarde — full je before a consonant

✅ J'aime le café. — never ❌ Je aime le café.

Among these subject pronouns, only je elides like this: ✅ tu aimes, ✅ elle habite. In casual speech, and in informal writing like chat messages, you'll also see t'as, t'es for tu as, tu es, but standard written French keeps tu as, tu es.

tu and vous: two ways to say "you"

French has two words for "you", and the choice matters:

• tu — one person you're close to: family, friends, a child, a classmate.
• vous — one person you should be polite to (a stranger, an official, someone older, a shopkeeper), and any time you're talking to more than one person.

So vous covers two situations: formal singular, and plural (formal or not).

• ✅ Comment vas-tu? (How are you? — to a friend)
• ✅ Comment allez-vous? (How are you? — to a stranger, or to several people)

When in doubt with one person, vous is the safe choice until they invite you to say tu.

il and elle are also "it"

Every French noun is either masculine or feminine (this is noun gender, its own topic). A pronoun replacing a noun matches that gender — even for an object, where English just says "it":

• le livre (the book, masculine) → Il est intéressant. (It is interesting.)
• la voiture (the car, feminine) → Elle est rouge. (It is red.)

So il and elle don't only mean "he" and "she" — for a thing, they're both "it", and the noun's gender decides which one.

on: the everyday "we"

In conversation, French speakers usually say on instead of nous for "we":

• On va au cinéma? (Shall we go to the cinema?)
• Nous allons au cinéma. — same meaning, more formal or written

on also means "people in general" / "you" / "they", with no specific subject:

• En France, on dîne vers 20 h. (In France, people have dinner around 8 p.m.)

Either way, on always takes the same verb form as il and elle — ✅ on est, never ❌ on sommes.

ils and elles: a mixed group is ils

• ils — a group that is all male, or any group with at least one male.
• elles — only when every member of the group is female.

Paul et Marie → ✅ Ils sont là., never ❌ Elles sont là. One masculine member makes the whole group ils.

French needs the subject pronoun

A French declarative clause keeps its subject: the conjugated verb needs a subject in front of it, and if there's no noun subject, a pronoun fills the slot:

• ✅ Je parle français. (I speak French.) — never ❌ Parle français. as a statement
• ✅ Elle est fatiguée. — never ❌ Est fatiguée.

The exception is the imperative (Écoute !, Allons-y !), which drops the subject on purpose — a separate topic.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Suis étudiant. → ✅ Je suis étudiant. (a declarative clause needs a subject in front of the conjugated verb)
• ❌ Je aime la musique. → ✅ J'aime la musique. (je → j' before a vowel)
• ❌ Le livre ? Elle est sur la table. → ✅ Il est sur la table. (le livre is masculine → il)
• ❌ Paul et Marie ? Elles arrivent. → ✅ Ils arrivent. (a mixed group is ils)
• ❌ On sommes contents. → ✅ On est content(s). (on takes the il/elle verb form, never the nous form)
• ❌ Using tu with a stranger or in an official setting → vous is safer until you're invited to use tu

Quick check

Which pronoun fits?

1. Talking to a friend: "____ as un stylo ?" (Tu / Vous)
2. la fenêtre (the window, feminine): "____ est ouverte." (Il / Elle)
3. Marc et Julie → "____ arrivent." (Ils / Elles)
4. "____ habite à Lyon." (Je / J')
5. "En France, ____ déjeune à midi." (on / nous — everyday speech)

Key takeaways

• The personal subject pronouns are je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles.
• je becomes j' before a vowel or silent h (j'ai, j'habite); no other pronoun in this list contracts.
• tu is for one person you're close to; vous is formal singular and any plural.
• il and elle also mean "it" — they match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace.
• on is the everyday "we" (and "people in general"); it always takes the il/elle verb form.
• ils covers any group with at least one male; elles is for an all-female group.
• French declarative clauses keep a subject before the conjugated verb — only the imperative drops it.