Tableau Complet des Pronoms Français

This page is the lookup table you keep open in another tab. Eleven pronoun systems, every form, every key contrast — with one or two example sentences per category and a pointer to the dedicated chapter when you need depth. Skim it once to see the shape of the whole system; come back to it whenever you forget which form goes where.

A reminder before the tables: French pronouns are not interchangeable building blocks the way English pronouns are. Each family has its own slot in the sentence (preverbal, postverbal, in a prepositional phrase, between en and the gérondif), its own agreement rules, and its own register. The single biggest source of error at B2 level is mixing forms across families — using moi where me is required, lui where à lui is needed, qui where que is needed. Look up the form, then check the family.

1. Subject pronouns — je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles

These mark who performs the action. They are obligatory before every finite verb (French has no pro-drop), and they are clitic — they form a phonological unit with the following verb.

In spoken French, on has effectively replaced nous in the meaning "we." Nous survives in writing and formal speech. See pronouns/subject/on for the full discussion.

2. Direct object pronouns — me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les

Replace a noun that receives the action directly (no preposition).

In compound tenses, the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object.

3. Indirect object pronouns — me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur

Replace à + a person. (For à + a thing or place, see y in section 6.)

The form leur (indirect object pronoun) is invariable — never leurs.

4. Reflexive pronouns — me, te, se, nous, vous, se

Used with pronominal verbs, where subject and object are the same.

Only the 3rd person has its own form, se. In compound tenses, all reflexive verbs use être.

5. Disjunctive (tonic) pronouns — moi, toi, lui, elle, soi, nous, vous, eux, elles

The stressed pronouns. Used after prepositions, in isolation, for emphasis, in coordinated subjects, and after c'est.

The form soi is the disjunctive equivalent of the impersonal on: chez soi, en soi, pour soi.

6. Adverbial pronouns — y, en

Two single-syllable workhorses with no English equivalent.

Y and en are never optional when their referent is dropped: a French speaker will not say je vais alone if the destination is implied — they will say j'y vais. See pronouns/y-and-en/y-en-combined for the full treatment.

7. Demonstrative pronouns — celui, celle, ceux, celles and ce, ça, cela, ceci

Two distinct subsystems.

7a. Variable demonstratives (celui-series)

Replace a specific noun. Cannot stand alone — must be followed by -ci/-là, de + noun, or a relative clause.

7b. Neuter demonstratives — ce, ça, cela, ceci

Refer to ideas, situations, or unspecified things.

In speech, ça dominates. Cela is the written/formal counterpart. Ceci is rare and points forward (Ceci dit, je m'en vais — Having said that, I'm leaving).

8. Possessive pronouns — le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre, le leur

Replace possessive determiner + noun. Note the circumflex on nôtre/vôtre — these forms are different from the determiners notre/votre.

The article (le, la, les) contracts with à and de: au mien, du tien, aux nôtres, des leurs.

9. Relative pronouns — qui, que, dont, où, lequel, ce qui, ce que, ce dont

Link a relative clause to its antecedent. The choice depends on the grammatical function of the pronoun inside the relative clause.

After prepositions, lequel (and its agreed forms) is used for things; for people, qui is preferred (la personne avec qui je travaille). With à and de, lequel contracts: auquel, à laquelle, auxquels, auxquelles, duquel, de laquelle, desquels, desquelles.

10. Interrogative pronouns — qui, que, quoi, lequel

Used in questions to ask who, what, which one.

In informal speech, the periphrastic forms are extremely common: qui est-ce qui (subject person), qu'est-ce qui (subject thing), qui est-ce que (object person), qu'est-ce que (object thing). They avoid all the trickiness of inverted word order.

11. Indefinite pronouns — quelqu'un, personne, quelque chose, rien, tout, chacun, aucun, plusieurs, certains

A heterogeneous family. Some are positive (quelqu'un, quelque chose, plusieurs), some negative and require ne (personne, rien, aucun), some refer to totality (tout, chacun).

The negative pronouns (personne, rien, aucun) always pair with ne in standard French: je ne vois personne, il n'y a rien. In informal spoken French, ne is often dropped (j'vois personne), but the written register requires it.

Common Mistakes

These are the high-frequency cross-family confusions that English speakers make at B1–B2.

When the verb takes a human indirect object, French uses the clitic lui/leur before the verb, not à + disjunctive. The phrase à lui is reserved for emphasis or for a small set of verbs that don't take clitic indirect objects (e.g., penser à lui, songer à elle). For ordinary "give him / write to her / talk to them," the clitic is mandatory.

Qui is the subject of the relative clause; que is the direct object. The choice has nothing to do with whether the antecedent is a person or a thing — it depends on the grammatical role of the pronoun inside the relative clause.

The possessive determiner notre/votre (no circumflex, no article — notre maison) and the possessive pronoun le nôtre/le vôtre (circumflex, article — la nôtre) are spelled and pronounced differently: /nɔtʁ/ vs /notʁ/. Beginners routinely write le notre without the circumflex; this is a spelling error, not just a stylistic slip.

For verbs that take à + person, the choice between clitic lui/leur and à + disjunctive depends on the verb. Parler à, donner à, dire à take lui/leur. But penser à, tenir à, songer à, faire attention à, s'intéresser à take à + disjunctive (for people) or y (for things). This is one of the trickiest splits in the system.

After quelqu'un, personne, rien, quelque chose, an adjective is linked by de and remains in the default masculine singular form regardless of context: quelqu'un de gentil, rien de bon, quelque chose d'amusant. This is a fixed construction.

For position rules — where each of these pronouns sits in the sentence, and how they stack — see the companion page pronouns/clitic-position-summary.