French pronouns: types and types

In linguistics, a pronoun is a part of speech that points to an object or sign, but does not name it. A pronoun can replace a noun, adjective, adverb or numeral. In Indo-European languages, approximately the same categories or types of pronouns are distinguished. In the article, this part of the speech will be considered in relation to the French language.

Pronouns

Typically, the following types of pronouns in French are distinguished:

• interrogative;
• personal
• relative;
• indicative;
• possessive;
• undefined.

Each of these groups needs to be considered separately.

Personal pronouns

This category of pronouns belongs to the grammatical category of a person. In French, as in Russian, there are 3 persons:

• First person: me, we;
• Second person: you, you;
• Third person: he, she, they.

The number in French is singular and plural. As for the category of gender, the French distinguish only male and female gender. There is no category of the middle kind.

Personal pronouns in French are divided into independent (stressed) and verbal (unstressed).

In the second case, the pronouns replace the subject. They have no stress and form a common rhythm group with the verb, therefore they are called "unstressed".

Table of personal unstressed French pronouns:

Translation corresponds to the Russian paradigm.

Examples of use:

• Je veux une pomme. - I want an apple.
• Tu es très belle. - You are very beautiful.
• Il veut visiter Marseille. - He wants to visit Marseille.
• Elle va au stade. - She goes to the stadium.
• Nous sommes étudiante à l'université. - We are university students.
• Ils reviennent tard. “They're coming back late.”

French independent pronouns are stressed and not tied to a verb.

Examples of use:

• Qui veut une pomme? - Moi. - Who wants an apple? - I.
• Je suis heureux, et toi? “I'm happy, and you?”
• Moi, la acheter? “Should I buy her?”

Among the French pronouns, the indefinite-personal pronoun on. It is not translated into Russian and is consistent with the verb in the third person and singular. In the Russian version of the translation, an indefinitely personal sentence is used:

• On dit elle est malade. - They say she’s sick.

A separate case is the use of the pronoun soi. It is used instead of lui and elle in sentences with the pronoun on and in the verb construction il faut.

Reflexive pronouns

In fact, reflexive pronouns are personal. It is important to mention this category of pronouns, as their misuse can completely distort the meaning of the sentence.

Reflexive pronouns are used with the so-called reflexive verbs: washing, combing, wounding, scaring, dressing and so on.

Reflexive pronouns are as follows: me, te, se (for the singular), nous, vous, se (for the plural).

Examples of the use of reflexive verbs and pronouns:

• Je me lave. - I wash my face.
• Il s'habille. - He's getting dressed.

Demonstrative Pronouns

This type is used when replacing repeated nouns.

Simple demonstrative French pronouns:

• celui - that;
• celle - that;
• ce - that;
• ceux - those (masculine);
• celles - those (feminine).

Examples of use:

• Les livres de Michel sont trop difficiles, ceux de Julliette sont interessantes. “Michelle’s books are too difficult; Juliet’s books are interesting.”
• Regardez ces fleurs et achetez celles qui vous voulez. “Look at these flowers and buy the ones you want.”

There are also complex forms of pronouns in a given language.

Example:

• Quelle fleur voulez-vous: celle-ci ou celle-là? - Which flower do you want - this or that?

Relative pronouns

This type of French pronoun determines the relationship of the subject to the holder.

Relative pronouns are also divided into two groups:

• simple: qui (who), que (what, which), quoi (what), dont (which), où (which).

Examples:

Le livre que je lis est interessante. “The book I'm reading is interesting.”

L'homme qui est assis près de la fenêtre s'appele Marcel. - The man who is sitting by the window is called Marcel.

• complex: lequel (which), laquelle (which), lesquels (which, m.), lesquelles (which, w.).

Example:

La fille avec laquel je parle est ma soeur. “The girl I'm talking to is my sister.”

Possessive pronouns

The noun is replaced with the possessive adjective relating to it. Before possessive pronouns in French, the use of a certain article is mandatory. They are also consistent in the category of gender and number with the noun to which they relate.

Examples of use:

• Voilà ma veste, où est la tienne? - Here is my jacket, where is yours?
• C'est ton livre, et c'est le mien. - This is your book, and this is mine.
• C'est votre stylo, où est le mien? - This is your pen, where is mine?

Indefinite pronouns

This type of French pronouns includes pronouns that give a general idea of ​​the subject. Most of them are combined with a verb in the 3rd person, singular. There are a lot of indefinite pronouns in French; only a few are given in the article.

Examples of use:

• Elle aime lire Dumas, Hugo, de Maupassant et autres. - She likes to read Dumas, Hugo, Maupassant and others.
• Chacun veut visiter Musée du Louvre. - Everyone wants to visit the Louvre Museum.
• Je n'ai vu rien. “I have not seen anything.”

Interrogative pronouns

This type of pronoun does not formally differ from the relative and is also divided into simple and complex.

Examples of use:

• Que veut-il? - What does he want?
• Qui parle? - Who's talking?
• Lequel choisis-tu? - Which one will you choose?

Direct and indirect pronouns

In French, there is the concept of direct and indirect complement. Addition - member of the sentence, standing in any case except nominative after the verb.

A direct addition in French does not require an excuse. For instance:

• Elle lit un journal. - She's reading a newspaper.

The newspaper supplement adjoins directly to the verb and has no preposition. Therefore, it is direct.

Indirect addition usually comes after the verb and requires a preposition. Usually it answers the question "à qui?", "À quoi?"

• Je parle à ma soeur. - I am talking with Sister.

In this example, “sister” is an indirect addition to the verb.

Direct and indirect additions are replaced by direct and indirect pronouns in French, respectively. They should always be consistent in the categories of gender and number with the noun replaced by them.

Pronouns for the replacement of direct complement:

Examples of use:

• Je mange la pomme. - Je la mange. - I am eating an apple. - I eat it.
• Il met sa veste. - Il la met. - He puts on his jacket. - He puts it on.
• Marcel lit-il ce journal? - Il le lit. “Does Marcel read this newspaper?” - He reads it.
• Aimes-tu les fleurs? - Je les aime. “Do you like these flowers?” “I love them.”

The pronouns that replace indirect additions are similar to those that replace direct additions, differing only in the form of the third person in the singular and plural:

Examples of use:

Je donne le cadeau à ma soeur. - Je lui donne. “I give a present to my sister.” “I give her.”

Je parle à mes amis. - Je leur parle. “I'm talking to my friends.” “I'm talking to them.”

Important! The order of pronouns following one another is fixed in French.

Key findings:

• in the French sentence, the pronoun plays the same syntactic role as in most Indo-European languages ​​(including the Russian language);
• French pronouns are divided into personal, indicative, interrogative, relative, indefinite and possessive;
• direct and indirect additions (and pronouns) are distinguished by the presence or absence of a preposition in front of them;
• The careful and competent use of pronouns is one of the indicators of the level of knowledge of the language.