When you want to say "some of them," "several," "a few," or "others" in French, you reach into a specific drawer of plural indefinite pronouns: quelques-uns / quelques-unes, plusieurs, certains / certaines, and d'autres. They all refer to an unspecified subset of a larger group, but they shade the meaning differently. Quelques-uns is "a few" — a small, casual number. Plusieurs is "several" — vaguely plural, more than two but not many. Certains is "some" with an implicit contrast — some people, but not others. D'autres is "others" — explicitly contrasted with a previously named group.
This page treats all four pronouns together because they form a system. Choosing the right one is rarely about a single rule; it is about the discourse intent. We will work through their forms, their pairings with the clitic en, and the contrasts that make each one the right choice in a given moment. Then we will look at the high-frequency les uns... les autres construction that ties the system together.
Quelques-uns / quelques-unes: a few
Quelques-uns (masculine) and quelques-unes (feminine) mean "a few" or "some." The hyphenation is non-negotiable — the form is a fixed compound, and writing quelques uns without the hyphen is a spelling error. The -uns / -unes ending is what gives this pronoun its gender and number (always plural).
J'ai lu les romans de Modiano. Quelques-uns m'ont vraiment marqué.
I've read Modiano's novels. A few really stayed with me.
Tu as goûté toutes les tartes ? — Oui, quelques-unes étaient excellentes.
Did you try all the tarts? — Yes, a few were excellent.
Parmi les candidats, quelques-uns ont impressionné le jury.
Among the candidates, a few impressed the jury.
The numerical sense is small and indefinite — typically two to a half-dozen, though context controls the upper bound. Quelques-uns is the pronoun version of the determiner quelques (quelques amis = "a few friends"), and they have the same semantic range.
When quelques-uns refers back to a noun already mentioned, you typically use the clitic en alongside it.
Tu as des collègues sympas ? — Oui, j'en ai quelques-uns.
Do you have nice colleagues? — Yes, I have a few.
Des erreurs dans le manuscrit ? J'en ai trouvé quelques-unes.
Errors in the manuscript? I found a few.
Vous avez essayé les vins de la région ? — On en a goûté quelques-uns.
Have you tried the wines of the region? — We tasted a few.
The pattern en + verb + quelques-uns(es) is the standard frame: j'en ai quelques-uns, j'en connais quelques-unes, il en reste quelques-uns. Without the en, the sentence sounds incomplete to a French ear.
Plusieurs: several (invariable)
Plusieurs means "several" — a few more than quelques-uns, though the boundary is fuzzy. The crucial structural fact: plusieurs is invariable. It has no separate masculine and feminine forms, and no singular form. It is always plural, always spelled plusieurs.
J'ai plusieurs raisons de croire qu'il ment.
I have several reasons to believe he is lying.
Plusieurs de mes amies sont parties vivre à l'étranger.
Several of my friends have gone to live abroad.
Plusieurs ont protesté contre la décision.
Several protested against the decision.
Tu as des questions ? — Oui, j'en ai plusieurs.
Do you have questions? — Yes, I have several.
The invariability of plusieurs makes it grammatically simpler than quelques-uns — you do not have to track gender. But it carries a slightly stronger numerical sense: plusieurs implies a count more than just two or three, while quelques-uns leans toward "a small handful."
Like quelques-uns, plusieurs pairs with en when referring back to a noun.
Des invitations au mariage ? J'en ai reçu plusieurs cette semaine.
Wedding invitations? I've received several this week.
Il y avait des erreurs dans le rapport, et il y en avait plusieurs.
There were errors in the report — there were several.
Certains / certaines: some (with implicit contrast)
Certains (masculine plural) and certaines (feminine plural) mean "some" — but with an important nuance. They imply a contrast: "some people, as opposed to others"; "some cases, but not all." Certains is the go-to pronoun for opinion or generalization sentences, where you want to say "there are some who think X" without committing to a specific group.
Certains pensent que le bonheur s'achète.
Some people think happiness can be bought.
Parmi ses livres, certains sont des chefs-d'œuvre, d'autres sont oubliables.
Among her books, some are masterpieces, others are forgettable.
Certaines préfèrent travailler en équipe, d'autres préfèrent travailler seules.
Some women prefer to work in teams, others prefer to work alone.
Certains de mes étudiants ont vraiment progressé cette année.
Some of my students have really improved this year.
The construction certains... d'autres... ("some... others...") is the canonical pairing. It sets up an explicit contrast between two unspecified subgroups within a larger set.
Certains differs from quelques-uns in three ways:
- Certains often introduces an opinion or a generalization; quelques-uns is more neutral counting.
- Certains implies a contrast (with the rest of the set); quelques-uns is purely additive.
- Certains is more frequent at the start of a sentence as the subject; quelques-uns prefers post-verbal positions with en.
Certains croient encore au père Noël.
Some still believe in Santa Claus.
Certaines de ces vieilles photos sont en très mauvais état.
Some of these old photos are in very bad condition.
When pairing with en, certains is also possible but less common than with quelques-uns and plusieurs. The certains... d'autres contrast is the more typical context.
D'autres: others
D'autres means "others" — and the d' is the partitive de, not a separate word. The form is invariable in the sense that gender does not affect d'autres itself (no d'autres / d'autresses), but the agreement with adjectives and verbs follows the implied noun's gender.
Certains aiment le rouge, d'autres préfèrent le blanc.
Some like red, others prefer white.
J'ai déjà écrit à mes parents ; je dois encore écrire à d'autres.
I've already written to my parents; I still need to write to others.
D'autres viendront après nous, et ils feront mieux que nous.
Others will come after us, and they will do better than we did.
Cette robe ne me plaît pas. Tu en as d'autres à me montrer ?
I don't like this dress. Do you have others to show me?
The d'autres pronoun is the natural counterweight to certains in the certains... d'autres... contrast. It is also the partitive plural of the determiner autres — d'autres livres ("other books") shrinks to d'autres when the noun is dropped.
When you want "others" with a definite reference (a specific group), you use les autres instead.
Les autres sont déjà partis sans nous attendre.
The others have already left without waiting for us.
Tu as fini ton travail ? Les autres sont encore en réunion.
Have you finished your work? The others are still in the meeting.
The distinction d'autres (some others, indefinite) vs les autres (the others, definite) parallels the distinction between indefinite and definite articles. D'autres refers to an open-ended set; les autres points to the rest of a known group.
Les uns... les autres: each other / one another / some... others
The reciprocal construction les uns... les autres is the standard French way to express "each other" with a plural subject, and also doubles as the more emphatic version of certains... d'autres....
Les étudiants s'aident les uns les autres pendant les examens.
The students help each other during exams.
Les uns chantaient, les autres dansaient — c'était une fête joyeuse.
Some were singing, others were dancing — it was a happy party.
Ils se regardaient les uns les autres sans rien dire.
They looked at one another without saying anything.
Les uns sont arrivés à l'heure, les autres sont arrivés en retard.
Some arrived on time, others arrived late.
The feminine plural is les unes... les autres, used when all the referents are women. The masculine plural is the default for mixed groups.
Les filles se parlaient les unes aux autres.
The girls were talking to each other.
When the verb takes a preposition, the preposition slips between the two halves: parler à → les unes aux autres; penser à → les uns aux autres; dépendre de → les uns des autres. This is one of those constructions that looks tricky but follows a single rule.
When to use which: a decision guide
Choosing among these four pronouns is rarely difficult once you have the contrasts in mind:
| Pronoun | Sense | Typical context |
|---|---|---|
| quelques-uns | a few, a small handful | counting actual items |
| plusieurs | several, multiple | a count, more than two-three |
| certains | some, in contrast to others | opinions, generalizations |
| d'autres | others | the unnamed remainder |
A quick test:
- Could you say "a few of them"? Use quelques-uns.
- Could you say "several of them, more than just a couple"? Use plusieurs.
- Could you say "some people think... whereas others..."? Use certains... d'autres....
- Are you contrasting with a previously named group? Use d'autres (indefinite) or les autres (definite).
Quelques-uns sont arrivés en avance.
A few arrived early. (small handful)
Plusieurs sont arrivés en avance.
Several arrived early. (more than a couple)
Certains sont arrivés en avance, d'autres en retard.
Some arrived early, others late. (contrasted)
The three sentences carry slightly different connotations even though they could describe the same scene. Native speakers calibrate this naturally; learners build the calibration through exposure.
Adjectival modification
All four pronouns combine with de + noun phrase to specify the larger group: quelques-uns de mes amis, certains de ces livres, plusieurs de mes collègues. To add an adjective directly to the pronoun (the de + masculine adjective template you know from quelqu'un de gentil), only quelques-uns and certains really work in everyday French, and even then the construction is mostly used to single out a quality from the subset.
J'en ai connu quelques-uns d'excellents.
I've known a few excellent ones.
Certains de ces livres sont fascinants.
Some of these books are fascinating.
Plusieurs de mes amis travaillent à Berlin.
Several of my friends work in Berlin.
The construction quelques-uns d'entre + nous/vous/eux/elles parallels chacun d'entre nous: it specifies the larger group from which the few are drawn.
Quelques-uns d'entre nous ont accepté de rester plus tard.
A few of us agreed to stay later.
Plusieurs d'entre vous ont posé la même question.
Several of you asked the same question.
Common mistakes
❌ J'ai quelques uns d'amis.
Incorrect — missing hyphen and wrong preposition pattern.
✅ J'ai quelques amis.
I have a few friends. (with determiner quelques + noun)
✅ J'en ai quelques-uns.
I have a few of them. (with pronoun and en)
The form quelques-uns is hyphenated and used as a pronoun (replacing the noun). When you keep the noun, use the determiner quelques instead — without hyphen, no uns.
❌ J'ai plusieures questions.
Incorrect — plusieurs is invariable.
✅ J'ai plusieurs questions.
I have several questions.
Plusieurs never changes form. There is no plusieures and no singular plusieur. Always plusieurs.
❌ Certains pensent que oui, les autres pensent que non.
Incorrect — should be d'autres for an indefinite contrast.
✅ Certains pensent que oui, d'autres pensent que non.
Some think yes, others think no.
The standard contrast is certains... d'autres... (both indefinite). Les autres would mean "the rest of a specific group" — which only fits if the group is already established.
❌ J'ai quelques-uns à te dire.
Incorrect — missing the en linking back to a noun.
✅ J'en ai quelques-uns à te dire.
I have a few to tell you.
When quelques-uns refers back to an unstated noun, French requires en to mark the link. Without en, the sentence sounds truncated.
❌ Plusieurs de mes amies est venue.
Incorrect — verb should agree with the plural sense.
✅ Plusieurs de mes amies sont venues.
Several of my friends came.
Unlike aucun and chacun (which are strictly singular), plusieurs, quelques-uns, certains, and d'autres take plural verb agreement. The participle agrees in gender with the underlying noun if the auxiliary is être: plusieurs sont venues (with feminine amies).
Key takeaways
Quelques-uns / quelques-unes (a few, with hyphen and gender) typically pairs with en: j'en ai quelques-uns. Plusieurs (several) is invariable — same form for masculine, feminine, and singular-feeling-plural. Certains / certaines (some, with implicit contrast) often introduces opinions: certains pensent que.... D'autres (others) is the indefinite counterweight; les autres is the definite version. The standard contrast structure is certains... d'autres.... All four take plural verb agreement, distinguishing them from chacun and aucun which take singular. The les uns... les autres construction is the formal "each other" and an emphatic version of certains... d'autres....
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