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Pronoun-Palooza!
A PRONOUN IS A WORD WHICH REPLACES A NOUN.
THEREFORE WHEN YOU USE A PRONOUN, YOU DO NOT NEED TO MENTION THE NOUN.
WHEN DEALING WITH PRONOUN TERMS, THINK ABOUT WHAT THE WORDS MEAN!
1. SUBJECT PRONOUN
A word which replaces a noun as the subject of a sentence.
2. OBJECT PRONOUN
A word which replaces a noun as the object of a sentence.
3. STRESS PRONOUN
A pronoun one uses when one wishes to add stress or emphasis. In addition, these are
pronouns that appear after a preposition (such as avec, sans, sous, sur, contre, de, pour,
par, etc.)
4. POSSESSIVE PRONOUN
A word which replaces a noun that possesses something.
5. RELATIVE PRONOUN
Helps two parts of a sentence relate to each other.
*POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE (the sort-of pronoun)
A word that describes a noun by replacing the person who possesses it. (Because it is not really a
pronoun, you do still need to mention the noun.)
*DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES (often mistaken for pronouns)
A word that demonstrates or indicates which noun is being referred to.
Subject pronoun
A word which replaces a noun as the subject of a sentence.
All verb conjugation hinges on subject pronouns, and nothing else!
First person
Second person
Third person masculine
Third person feminine
Third person neuter
je
tu
il
elle
on
Inanimate general
Inanimate away
Inanimate near
ça
cela
ceci
ce (used only with être)
nous
vous
ils
elles
Plural
Plural/formal
Plural masculine
Plural feminine
Structure: Identify the subject of the sentence, or the person/thing which is performing the verb.
Is it first, second, or third person? Masculine or feminine? Uknown? Singular or plural? Then
replace it with the correct subject pronoun.
Thomas regarde la télé avec sa famille.
Thomas is the subject (third person singular masculine.)
It becomes: Il regarde la télé avec sa famille.
Practice:
I speak French.
They (feminine) love to cook.
We have six dogs.
That makes some sense.
This bakes bread.
Object pronoun
A word which preplaces a noun as the object of a sentence.
DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS
(the thing or person upon which the verb is being performed directly)
First person
Second person
Third person masculine
Third person feminine
me
te
le
la
nous
vous
les
Plural
Plural/formal
Inanimate masculine
Inanimate feminine
le
la
les
Inanimate plural
Plural
INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS
(the thing or person upon which the verb is being performed indirectly)
First person
Second person
Third person masculine
Third person feminine
me
te
lui
lui
nous
vous
leur
Plural
Plural/formal
Inanimate
lui
les
Inanimate plural
Plural
Structure: Identify the object of the sentence, or the person/thing which the verb is being
performed upon. Is it first, second, or third person? Masculine or feminine? Uknown? Singular or
plural? Then replace it with the correct object pronoun, and place it before the verb.
Thomas donne un cadeau à son grand-père
“un cadeau” is the direct object of the sentence (third person masculine singular).
It becomes: Thomas le donne à son grand-père.
“son grand-père” is the indirect object of the sentence (third person masculine
singular)
It becomes: Thomas lui donne un cadeau.
Practice:
I hate him.
They love us.
We love them.
She’s reading it with her children.
Do you speak to her about school?
Dad is giving them our car.
Stress pronoun
A pronoun one uses when one wishes to add stress or emphasis. In addition, these are pronouns
that appear after a preposition (such as avec, sans, sous, sur, contre, de, pour, par, etc.)
First person
Second person
Third person masculine
Third person feminine
Third person neuter
moi
toi
lui
elle
soi
Inanimate general
Inanimate away
Inanimate near
ça
cela
ceci
nous
vous
eux
elles
Plural
Plural/formal
Plural masculine
Plural feminine
Structure 1: Even when the noun is mentioned, you can place a stress pronoun at the beginning
or ending of a phrase to add emphasis or stress.
Thomas est un beau garçon, lui.
Moi, je ne veux pas aller au cinéma!
Structure 2: Identify a noun that comes after a preposition (such as with, without, under, over,
against, for, etc.). Is it first, second, or third person? Masculine or feminine? Unknown? Singular
or plural? Then replace it with the correct stress pronoun.
Thomas va à l’église avec son grand-père.
“son grand-père” is the noun which comes after the preposition.
It becomes: Thomas va à l’église avec lui.
Practice with emphasis:
I have six dogs!
Tom Hanks is a fantastic actor!
We don’t want to sing!
Practice with following prepositions:
She isn’t going to Hawaii without me.
I’m with you. (informal)
You’re against us!
At work, he is under me.
Possessive pronoun
A word which replaces a noun that possesses something.
First person
First person plural
Second person
Second person plural/formal
Third person
Third person plural
Masculine
le mien
le nôtre
le tien
le vôtre
le sien
le leur
feminine
la mienne
la nôtre
la tienne
la vôtre
la sienne
la leur
masc plural
les miens
les nôtres
les tiens
les vôtres
les siens
les leurs
fem plural
les miennes
les nôtres
les tiennes
les vôtres
les siennes
les leurs
Structure: Identify who or what possesses something in a sentence (the column at left). First,
second or third person? Singular or plural?
Next, identify what is being owned (the row across the top) Masculine or feminine? Singular or
plural?
The correct pronoun meets the column and the row in the middle.
C’est le chien de Thomas.
Thomas possesses the dog (Thomas is third person singular, the dog is singular
masculine).
It becomes: Le chien est le sien.
Practice:
The flowers are mine.
There are four cars; his is the purple.
Those books are ours.
The house is theirs.
Which orange juice is yours (informal)?
Relative pronoun
Helps two parts of a sentence relate to each other.
ce qui (refers to a subject)
ce que (refers to an object)
ce dont (refers to “of which”)
qui
(refers to a subject)
que
dont
où
(refers to a place)
(refers to an object)
(refers to “of which”)
AFTER A PREPOSITION
lequel (mascline singular)
laquelle (feminine singular)
lesquels (masculine plural)
lesquelles (feminine plural)
Structure: Relative pronouns often translate to English as “that” or “which” (but not always).
Identify what the relative pronoun should refer to. Is it the subject of the sentence? The object? Is
it a sentence phrased with “of which”? Is there a preposition involved? Then insert the proper
relative pronoun.
Thomas aime le pull que sa grand-mère a fait.
“que” refers to the sweater, which is the object of the sentence.
C’est la voiture qui a frappé Thomas.
“qui” refers to the car, which is the subject of the phrase about a car hitting
Thomas.
C’est la chaise sur laquelle je suis assis.
“laquelle” comes after the preposition sur.
Practice:
That’s the school where I learned my ABC’s.
The drawer in which my mom placed the necklace is in her bedroom.
The girls with whom (which) we went to the dance are Sophie and Renée.
He bought the pen which wrote the Magna Carta.
That’s the dress I want!
Possessive Adjectives
A word that describes a noun by replacing the person who possesses it.
First person
First person plural
Second person
Second person plural/formal
Third person
Third person plural
Masculine
mon
notre
ton
votre
son
leur
feminine
ma
notre
ta
votre
sa
leur
plural
mes
nos
tes
vos
ses
leurs
Structure: Identify who or what possesses something in a sentence (the column at left). First,
second or third person? Singular or plural?
Next, identify what is being owned (the row across the top) Masculine or feminine? Singular or
plural?
The correct pronoun meets the column and the row in the middle.
C’est le chien de Thomas.
Thomas possesses the dog (Thomas is third person singular, the dog is singular
masculine).
It becomes: C’est son chien.
Practice:
Marlène is his mother.
This is our school.
My boyfriend is handsome.
Sandrine and her father went to their church.
Mom and dad, your children are angry!