28.2: Part 1: 1 NP: PRONOUNS (PRONOMS)

THE NOUN PHRASE (GROUPE NOMINAL)

A noun phrase can occur in the subject or in the predicate (more precisely, in the complement part of the predicate, as direct object or indirect object of the verb, as object of a preposition, or as the predicate nominative). The three basic types of noun phrase structures are: pronoun (as in "We are walking home"); proper noun (as in "We saw John yesterday"); common noun phrase (as in "We took John to the old stadium last week" or "Mary is a professor").

1 NP: PRONOUNS (PRONOMS)

Pronouns take the place of nouns. After we've named or identified or described or pointed at a person, an object, or an abstract concept, we usually refer to that entity with a pronoun.

1.1 Pronouns: Personal Pronouns (Pronoms personnels)

In French, the "personal" pronouns (which normally refer to a specific person or persons, but quite often to a specific concrete object or other living being) have different forms depending on their function and on whether they refer to one or more than one object/person or—in their 3rd person forms—to a masculine or feminine object/person (objects have "grammatical" gender in French). Each function rates a separate sub-section and table below; the respective gender and person-number forms are given in the tables.

1.1.1 Personal Pronouns: Subject (Pronoms personnels: sujet)

The forms of the personal pronoun used as subject of the verb are:

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
First Person	je    I	nous    we
Second Person	tu*    you	vous    you
Third Person	elle    she, it, f.	elles    they, f.
	il    he, it, m.	ils    they, m.**
	on    one***

* Tu is always grammatically singular, while vous is always grammatically plural (that is, it takes a plural verb form). Tu designates only one person and is used generally with family members and close friends; vous may designate one person or more than one; it is used for one person in polite or more formal exchanges.

** Ils refers either to a group of males (or masculine objects) exclusively or to any group that contains at least one male.

*** On is indefinite, i.e., does not normally have a clear antecedent, and is equivalent to English "one" (as in One doesn't do that, Charlie), "they" (as in They don't sell sheet music in this store), or "you" (as in You hardly hear anyone say that anymore). It is extremely useful, because speakers of French often use it where we might use a passive construction, and also use it as a substitute for nous, as for example in On y va? (Shall we go?)

Function and Use of Subject Pronouns

The subject pronouns function just as they do in English. They replace nouns already mentioned or otherwise identified ( = their "antecedent"), and they are the grammatical subject of a verb.

Examples

Je suis malade.	I'm sick.
Elle a trouvé son passeport.	She found her passport.
Allez-vous au cinéma?	Are you going to the movies?

1.1.2 Personal Pronouns: Direct Object (Pronoms personnels: complément d'objet direct)

The forms of the personal pronoun used as direct object of the verb are:

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
First Person	me    me	nous    us
Second Person	te    you	vous    you
Third Person	la    her, it, f.	les    them*
	le    him, it, m.**

* Les is used to replace both masculine and feminine plural nouns. Context normallv makes it clear in French, just as it does in English where the form "them" is also ambiguous as to gender.

** Le is also used when the antecedent is "neuter", as for example, when the antecedent is a whole sentence:

Tu sais, Jean part aujourd'hui.	You know, John is leaving today.
Oui, je le sais.	Yes, I know (it).

Function and Use of Direct Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns function as they do in English in that they replace direct object nouns, but—as you'll quickly notice—they regularly (with one very simple exception, the affirmative imperative) are placed in front of the verb of which they are the object. Note that little phrase, "of which they are the object": it's very important.

Order of Direct Object Pronouns

a. With simple ("synthetic", one-word) verb forms, the order is obvious. The pronoun precedes that verb.

Nous la suivons.	We are following her.
Je les achèterai.	I'll buy them.
Elles nous aimaient.	They loved us.

b. In compound ("analytic", two-word) verb forms, it still is fairly straightforward: the direct object again precedes the whole verb, which is the auxiliary-plus-past-participle.

Nous l'avons suivie.	We followed her.
Ils nous avaient vus.	They had seen us.

c. When the verb construction is a verb plus infinitive, you just have to follow the meaning of the phrase: most often, the pronoun is the object of the infinitive, so naturally it precedes the infinitive, not the verb that "takes" the infinitive.

Il veut nous aider.	He wants to help us. (It's not that he wants us; he wants to help us.)
Je commençais à le faire.	I was beginning to do it.

d. As mentioned, there is one exception to the general rule, one construction in which the object pronoun does not precede the verb: in the affirmative imperative the pronoun follows, just as in English.

Rendez-les aux étudiants!	Give them (back) to the students!
Finis-le!	Finish it!

e. In the negative imperative, the usual order prevails:

Ne les rendez pas aux étudiants.	Don't give them to the students!
Ne le finis pas!	Don't finish it!

1.1.3 Personal Pronouns: Indirect Object (Pronoms personnels : complément d'objet indirect)

The forms of the personal pronoun used as indirect object of the verb are:

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
First Person	me    to me	nous    to us
Second Person	te    to you	vous    to you
Third Person	lui*    to her/him	leur*    to them, m/f

* Both lui and leur are ambiguous as to the gender of the antecedent. As is true for other such cases of ambiguity (note that "them" is similarly ambiguous in English), the problem is almost always resolved by the context.

Function and Use of the Indirect Object Pronoun

Indirect object pronouns in French serve a function similar to that of the equivalent forms in English, but—like the direct object forms—they are regularly placed in front of the verb of which they are the indirect object. (If you are at the moment reading just this section for reference purposes, please also look at the comments on direct object pronouns, in the section above.)

It is customary to give the English equivalent (as we do above) with the preposition "to," but that can be misleading. The indirect object of the verb represents the person to whom (or for whom) something is done and is not simply a translation of "to x." See the discussion of the pronominal adverb, y, for additional comments (Section 1.3).

It is also important to note that many verbs in French take indirect objects whereas the equivalent verb in English takes a direct object, and vice versa. For example:

Elle leur obéit.	(Indirect object in French)
She obeys them.	(Direct object in English)
Je l'écoute.	(Direct object in French)
I'm listening to him.	(Indirect object in English)

Order of Indirect Object Pronouns

Like the direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns regularly precede the verb of which they are the object. Again, note the importance of that phrase, 'of which they are the object': see the comments under direct object pronouns (1.1.2) and consider carefully the examples below.

a. With a simple verb, the pronoun precedes that verb:

Je lui parle.	I'm talking to him/her.
Elle m'enverra une lettre.	She'll send me a letter.
Ils leur obéissaient.	They obeyed them.
(Indirect object in French)	(Direct object in English)

b. With a compound verb, the indirect object precedes the full verb, thus it precedes the auxiliary:

Il t'a donné le livre.	He gave you the book.
Je lui ai montré la photo.	I showed him the picture.

c. With verb plus infinitive constructions, there are two full verbs so you have to understand the meaning in order to see which one takes the indirect object. That's really not very difficult, and most of the time the pronoun is the object of the infinitive:

Il va leur parler.	He's going to talk to them.
Je voudrais te raconter une histoire.	I'd like to tell you a story.
BUT: 11 te dira de partir.	He'll tell you to leave.

d. The exception to the general rule that pronoun objects precede the verb, same one as for direct object pronouns, is the affirmative imperative. In that case, the pronoun follows the verb:

Donne-moi ton passeport.	Give me your passport.
Dites-nous la vérité.	Tell us the truth.

But in the negative imperative, the usual order prevails:

Ne me chante pas cette chanson.

Don't sing me that song.

1.2 Pronouns: Disjunctive Pronouns (Pronoms disjonctifs)

The disjunctive pronouns (also called "stressed pronouns" or "tonic pronouns") are strictly "personal" pronouns: they refer only to persons. They're usually treated separately from the other personal pronouns (subject, direct object, indirect object: see above) because of their particular functions and a few special forms.

The two most common names for these forms may help explain their characteristics. We call them "disjunctive" because they do not always "join" the rest of the sentence as you might expect them to. We call them "stressed" because the tonic stress (louder and stronger pronunciation) falls on them. Let's look at the forms first, then give examples of what we mean.

The forms of the disjunctive pronoun are:

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
First Person	moi	nous
Second Person	toi	vous
Third Person	lui, m.	eux, m.
	elle, f.	elles, f.
	soi (goes with on)

Functions and Uses of the Disjunctive Pronoun

(PERSONAL) OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION:

Viens avec moi à la Casbah.	Come with me to the Casbah.
Nous comptons sur toi.	We're counting on you.
Asseyez-vous devant eux.	Sit down in front of them.

ONE WORD RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS:

—Qui est à la porte?	Who's at the door?
Moi. (never "Je")	Me. (some would say "I")
—Qui as-tu choisi?	Who(m) did you choose?
Elle.	Her. (pointing)

PREDICATE NOMINATIVE, AFTER C'est:

C'est toi qui as fait cela?	Are you the one who did that?
Ce sont eux qui ne comprennent pas.	They're the ones who don't understand.
—Qui est à la porte?	Who's at the door?
—C'est nous.	It's us.

FOR EMPHASIS (usually repeats a regular personal pronoun—subject, direct object or indirect object—in this function):

Lui ne comprend rien.

He doesn't understand anything.

OR:

Lui, il ne comprend rien.	Him, he doesn't understand anything.
Il nous le donne, à nous.	He's giving it to us.
Je lui parle, à elle.^2	I'm talking to her.

² ln the case of third person indirect object forms (lui and leur), one can use the disjunctive pronoun to make it clear whether you are referring to a male or a female (males or females).

1.3 Pronouns: Adverbial Pronouns (Pronominal Adverbs) (Adverbes pronominaux)

The forms of the so-called "pronominal adverbs" are:

y	to it, to that place, there
en	from it, from that place, of it/them, thence

Unlike the personal pronouns, the adverbial pronouns (most often called pronominal adverbs) replace not just a noun or noun phrase, but a preposition plus noun (noun phrase) construction. We call them pronouns because they are placed in the sentence like the direct and indirect object pronouns; they are adverbial because their principal meaning is adverbial: "place where".

Function and Use of the Adverbial Pronouns

Y most often replaces prepositional phrases beginning with à, sur, dans, and other location prepositions, in other words, phrases that indicate "whereto" or "whereat". Please note that y does NOT replace the indirect object construction (à + personal object), as illustrated in the Je parle à lean example.

Je vais à Paris.	I'm going to Paris.
→ J'y vais.	→ I'm going there.
Les papiers sont dans la serviette.	The papers are in the briefcase.
→ Ils y sont.	→ They are there (in it).

BUT:

Je parle à Jean.	I'm speaking to John.
→ Je lui parle. (See 1.1.3)	→ I'm speaking to him.

NOTE: Colloquially, a very common way of expressing "there" is with the adverb là (usually the person is pointing—literally or figuratively).

—Où sont mes lunettes?	Where are my glasses?
—Là, sur la table	There, on the table.

However, y is a high-frequency word in the spoken language and in general must be used when the place to which/at which has just been mentioned.

En is more versatile than y. It replaces two kinds of constructions: (1) like y, it replaces prepositional phrases (but instead of phrases indicating whereat or whereto, it replaces those indicating wherefrom); (2) it also replaces partitive and indefinite constructions (see also 2.2.3).

Example of (1)

—Quand est-ce qu'ils reviennent de Bordeaux?	When do they come back from Bordeaux?
—Ils en reviennent demain.	They're getting back tomorrow.

Example of (2)

—Tu as des stylos?	Do you have any pens?
—Oui, j'en ai.	Yes, I have some. (Yes, I do.)
—Il a une voiture?	He has a car?
—Bien sûr. Il en a même deux^3.	Sure does. In fact, he has two.

³ ln French, a numeral cannot stand alone. One must say, e.g., "He has two cars," or "He has two of them," never "He has two."

1.4 Pronouns: Indefinite "Demonstrative" Pronouns (Pronoms indéfinis)

"Real" demonstrative pronouns are discussed in the next section but are not treated ac tively in this textbook you will not be expected to produce them. The indefinite pronouns, on the other hand, are high-frequency forms that you'll need for dayto-day communic ation They're sometimes called "demonstrative" because they seem to point at something, as is obvious from the English equivalents "this," "that." "these." etc. Let's forget the terms by which we refer to them and just take up the three or four words (one is an abbreviation but deserves separate billing) as words.

Note that all of the words listed replace indefinite antecedents in the sense that the thing replaced has not been clearly mentioned and has no clear gender or number: otherwise, we'd use a personal pronoun or a true demonstrative.

Ceci and cela: The simplest equivalent of ceci is "this" and that works fine, so long as you don't think of ceci as being in strict contrast with cela, whose equivalent is "that". They are both used to refer to whole statements, ideas or questions, and both used to refer to objects at which a person is pointing but has not named.

(reference to a previous statement):

—Les Américains sont riches.	Americans are rich.
—Cela n'est past vrai.	That's not true.

(pointing at a statement, as a teacher might in discussing a composition with a student):

Ceci n'est pas très clair.

This isn't very clear.

(pointing at something a (short) distance away):

Cela n'est pas une fleur.

That's not a flower.

(pointing at something close, perhaps in the person's hands):

Ceci est à moi.

This is mine.

Ça. This is an abbreviation of cela, but is much more common, as you already know from expressions you've been using in class:

Comment ça va?	How are things? (How goes it?)
Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça?	What's that?
Ça, c'est mon affaire.	That's my business.

1.5 Pronouns: Demonstrative Pronouns (Pronoms démonstratifs)

The true demonstrative pronouns refer to objects (persons, animals, abstract concepts) previously mentioned. This construction is not taken up in the text for production, but we provide a brief description here both to give a more complete general picture of French grammar and to facilitate your understanding of reading passages and any comprehension exercises that may contain these forms.

The forms of the demonstrative pronoun are:

Antecedent is:	SINGULAR	PLURAL
Feminine	celle	celles
Masculine	celui	ceux

Function and Use of the Demonstrative Pronoun

Quite logically, the demonstrative pronoun is used to refer to a specific set (one or more) of members of some previously designated group: "Do you want an orange?" "Sure, I'll take this one." (Veux-tu une orange? Bien sûr, je prends celleci.)

In French, the way you indicate which one(s) you are referring to (in addition to the ever-efficient pointing system) is to use one of the following formulae:

(1) When both the speaker and hearer can see (literally or figuratively) the object in question, the speaker adds -ci or -là to the appropriate demonstrative pronoun form (according to gender and number). This is more or less the equivalent of "this one" (celui-ci...) or "that one" (celle-là...) and is understandably more common in spoken French than in written French.

(2) The speaker may also specify which one(s) by mentioning who possesses the one(s) in question, using de after the demonstrative pronoun:

—Quelle voiture préférez-vous?	Which car do you prefer?
—Celle de mon père.	My father's.

(3) Or the speaker may use a relative pronoun construction, as in:

—Enfin, tu as choisi un roman?!	So, did you pick out a novel?!
—Oui, celui que Marie m'a recommandé.	Yes, the one that Mary recommended to me.

(If you have occasion to use demonstrative pronouns at this stage in your study of French, remember that they are never used "alone": they're always followed by -ci or -là, or by constructions as in (2) or (3) above.)

1.6 Pronouns: Interrogative Pronouns (Pronoms interrogatifs)

Interrogative pronouns, like negative words ('never,' 'no one,' etc.) serve two functions at the same time: they signal that you are asking a question and they fill one of the syntactic slots, such as SUBJECT, OBJECT, INDIRECT OBJECT. As far as form is concerned, there are two sets of interrogative pronouns; we'll call them the QUI-pronouns and the LQL-pronouns.

1.6.1 Interrogative Pronouns/QUI-type

The forms of the QUI-type interrogatives are:

When the referent is a person (set of persons)
and the function is:	you should use:
SUBJECT	qui (or qui est-ce qui)
DIRECT OBJECT	qui ( + inversion or est-ce que)
OBJECT OF PREPOSITION (including à with indirect object)	Prep + qui ( + inversion or est-ce que)
When the referent is not a person (is a thing, a plant, an animal)
and the function is:	you should use:
SUBJECT	qu'est-ce qui
DIRECT OBJECT	que (+ inversion) OR
	qu'est-ce que
OBJECT OF PREPOSITION	Prep + quoi ( + inversion or est-ce que)

Order of Interrogative QUI-type Pronouns

They come first, as they do in English.

SUBJECT:

Qui t'a donné ce stylo?	Who gave you this pen?
Qui est ce monsieur?	Who is that man?
Qu'est-ce qui est sur la table?	What is on the table?
Qu'est-ce qui se passe?	What's going on?

Note that not only is the order the same as that of a simple declarative sentence, but that—for this group, where the interrogative word is the subject—there is no other interrogative structure involved, neither inversion, nor the use of a separate est-ce que. (We emphasize "separate": the forms Qu'est-ce qui and Qui est-ce qui should be considered as one-word units.) Compare the following questions and answers:

—Qui t'a donné ce stylo?

Who gave you this pen?

OR:

—Qui est-ce qui t'a donné ce stylo?	Who gave you this pen?
Jean m'a donné ce stylo.	John gave me this pen.
Qu'est-ce qui est sur la table?	What is on the table?
Mon livre est sur la table.	My book is on the table.

On the other hand, when the interrogative pronoun fulfills a syntactic function other than that of subject, it is out of its normal position for that function and thus triggers a change in the sentence, involving either the use of inversion of subject and verb or the addition of est-ce que.

DIRECT OBJECT (qui for people; que for things, plants, animals):

Qui regardez-vous?	Who(m) are you looking at?^4
Qui est-ce que vous regardez?	Who(m) are you looking at?
Que regardez-vous?	What are you looking at?
Qu'est-ce que vous regardez?	What are you looking at?

⁴ Remember, as always translations are given only to help you quickly see what a sentence means: don't confuse English grammar with French grammar. For example, regarder takes a direct object in French, while in English the equivalent verb "to look" takes a prepositional phrase, beginning with "at". See Section 1.1.3.

OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION (qui for people, quoi for things):

À qui as-tu rendu l'article?	Who'd you give the article to?
À qui est-ce que le général a donné l'argent?	To whom did the general give the money?
Sur qui comptez-vous?	Who(m) are you counting on?
Chez qui est-ce que le gala aura lieu?	At whose house will the gala party take place?
De quoi parlez-vous?	What are you talking about?
Sur quoi as-tu mis les copies?	What did you put the papers on?

1.6.2 Interrogative Pronouns/LQL-type

The forms of the "LQL-type" interrogative pronouns are:

Referent is:	SINGULAR	PLURAL
Masculine	lequel	lesquels
Feminine	laquelle	lesquelles

Note: The masculine singular form and both plural forms contract with the prepositions à and de to give auquel, duquel, auxquels, desquels, auxquelles, desquelles. (See Section 21.1 on Contraction)

Function and Use of the LQL-type Interrogative Pronouns

The LQL interrogative construction is much more specific than the QUI-type. As you see, it has gender and number, so it has to have a clear referent, either a previously mentioned antecedent (first example) or an item mentioned directly after the LQL form (second example).

—Il y a tant de bons film à voir.	There are so many good films to see.
—Lequel va-t-on choisir?	Which one are we going to choose?
—Laquelle de ces bières préférez-vous?	Which of these beers do you prefer?

Order of LQL-type Interrogative Pronouns

No matter what its syntactic function is, the LQL-type pronoun comes in first position in the sentence. (If it is the object of a preposition, it is of course preceded by that preposition, and the whole unit is in first position).

SUBJECT. If it is the subject, the rest of the sentence follows normal word order (no est-ce que, no inversion).

Lequel de vos frères est à Paris?	Which one of your brothers is in Paris?
Lesquelles de ces lettres sont arrivées aujourd'hui?	Which of these letters arrived today?

OBJECT. If it is the direct object, the subject and verb are inverted or one uses est-ce que.

Laquelle de ces bières est-ce que vous préférez?	Which of these beers do you prefer?
Lesquels de ces romans avez-vous lus?	Which of these novels have you read?

OBJECT-of-PREPOSITION. When the LQL pronoun is the object of a preposition, that whole construction is still first in the sentence and, again, one uses est-ce que or inverted word order.

Dans laquelle de ces bouteilles est-ce qu'on a mis le bon vin?	In which of these bottles did they put the good wine?
Sur lequel de ces officiers comptez-vous?	Which one of these officers are you counting on?
Auxquels de ces étudiants avez-vous donné un A?	Which of these students did you give an A to?

1.7 Pronouns: Possessive Pronouns (Pronoms possessifs)

Like the demonstrative pronouns, the possessive pronoun forms are given here only for reference. We do not include them in the textbook because, at this level, a student may use the possessive adjective to express most of the same relationships.

The form of the possessive pronoun varies according to the person who possesses the object(s) concerned and also according to the gender and number of the object(s) possessed, as is indicated in the following table:

THE OBJECT(S) POSSESSED IS/ARE:	Singular		Plural
THE POSSESSOR IS (with translation):	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
1st sg mine	le mien	la mienne	les miens	les miennes
2nd sg yours	le tien	la tienne	les tiens	les tiennes
3rd sg his/hers/its	le sien	la sienne	les siens	les siennes
1st pl ours	le nôtre	la nôtre	les nôtres	les nôtres
2nd pl yours	le vôtre	la vôtre	les vôtres	les vôtres
3rd pi theirs	le leur	la leur	les leurs	les leurs