How French works
An impersonal construction is a verb construction where the subject is the impersonal pronoun il, ce, cela or ça:
Il faut que tu sois là avant dix heures
You must be there by ten o'clock
C’est difficile de reprendre le travail après de si belles vacances [spoken language]
It's hard going back to work after such a nice holiday
An impersonal pronoun is a pronoun that does not take the place of a specific noun , but which refers to something implied in the context or about to be mentioned:
Il fait beau aujourd’hui
The weather's nice today
[il refers to the weather by implication]
Il est important que Pierre obtienne cet emploi
It's important that Pierre gets this job
[il refers to Pierre’s getting the job]
The il here is not to be confused with the masculine personal pronoun il which always takes the place of a masculine noun :
Souviens-toi de ce conseil - il est important
Remember this piece of advice - it's important
[il replaces the masculine noun conseil]
Note that with il y a it is the subject il which governs the verb (avoir) and not the object (as in the English equivalent there is, there are). Hence the French never say *il y ont. Compare for example:
Il y a beaucoup de choses à faire singular verb
There are a lot of things to do plural verb
Il existe plusieurs solutions à ce problème
There are several solutions to this problem
This can be followed by a noun , an infinitive or que clause :
Il faut un billet pour entrer
You need a ticket to get in
Il faut nettoyer la maison avant qu’elle n’arrive
We need to clean the house before she arrives
Il faut que tu te rendes compte de la gravité de la situation
You need to realize the gravity of the situation
Il faut can be made to act more like the English verb to need by being used with an indirect personal pronoun :
Il me faut un billet pour entrer
I need a ticket to get in
Il me faut nettoyer la maison avant qu’elle n’arrive
I need to clean the house before she arrives
This construction is most commonly used:
For describing what's going on in a novel, a film etc., akin to the English to be about.
Il s’agit dans ce film de la vie du Mahatma Ghandi
This film is about the life of Mahatma Ghandi
Note that this construction can never have a subject other than the impersonal il: you cannot say *Le film s’agit de la vie du Mahatma Ghandi.
For describing what's going on in real life, akin to the English there is, it is etc.:
Selon le gouvernement, il ne s’agit pas d’une crise économique
According to the government there is no economic crisis
Il s’agit pour le gouvernement de créer de nouveaux emplois
What the government must do now is create more jobs
Quelle heure est-il?
What time is it?
Il est 5 heures / midi
It’s 5 o’ clock / midday
Il est tard
It’s late
Il est temps que tu ailles au lit
It’s time you went to bed
Constructions taking a noun phrase include il se passe, il reste, il arrive. These are used as a stylistic device preparing the way for the real subject by making a preliminary reference to it:
Il se passait quelque chose d'extraordinaire
Something extraordinary was going on
Il reste toujours quelques places
There are still a few places left
Il est arrivé quelque chose de surprenant
Something surprising has happened
There are a large number of constructions taking an infinitive or a que clause or both.
Il vaut mieux ne pas lui téléphoner à cette heure-ci
It’s better not to phone him / her at this time
Il arrive que nous nous y rendons en bus
Sometimes we go there by bus
With que it is necessary to decide whether the verb following it takes the indicative or the subjunctive . If the construction expresses an idea of certainty or probability, the indicative is used:
Il est certain qu'il est allé au bureau mercredi
It is certain that he went to the office on Wednesday
Il est probable qu'il ira au bureau mercredi
It is likely that he will go to the office on Wednesday
If the construction expresses an idea of uncertainty or possibility, the subjunctive is used:
Il est possible qu'il ait été au bureau mercredi
It is possible that he was in the office on Wednesday
If the construction expresses an idea of personal will or interpretation, the subjunctive is also used:
Il vaut mieux que tu viennes immédiatement
You must come immediately
Il est dommage qu'elle ait perdu
It's a shame she lost
Il / Ça a été décidé de repousser la date de la réunion
It has been decided to postpone the date of the meeting
This is sometimes used as an alternative to il y a:
Il est des moments où tout va de travers
There are moments where everything goes wrong
il pleut, ça pleut
it’s raining
il neige, ça neige
it’s snowing
However, similar expressions using faire always take il:
il fait du vent,il fait noir
it’s windy, it’s dark
Where the verb construction is indirect , il or cela / ça may be used:
Il / Ça déplaît à Marie qu’on lui téléphone tard le soir
Marie doesn’t like people phoning her late at night
Il / Ça convient à Pierre d’habiter si près de ses parents
Pierre finds it convenient to live so close to his parents
However, where the verb construction is direct , only cela / ça is used:
Cela / Ça irrite Marie qu’on lui téléphone tard le soir
It annoys Marie when people phone her late at night
Cela / Ça intéresserait Pierre d’habiter plus près de ses parents
Pierre would be interested in living closer to his parents
Ce and il can be used both as a personal pronoun and an impersonal pronoun .
The impersonal pronoun forms ce and il are generally used with être (or with devoir être or pouvoir être). Where être is followed by something other than an adjective , ce is used:
C'est / Ce doit / Ce pouvait être le professeur
It's / It must / It could be the teacher
C'est ainsi que je l'ai trouvé
That's how I found him
Il a pris une décision courageuse: c'était de continuer
He took a brave decision : to continue
- Qui est là ? - C'est moi
"Who's there ?" "It's me"
Note that ce is generally followed by a verb in the third person singular:
C'est moi, c'est nous, c'est eux, c'est mes parents
It's me, it's us, it's them, it's my parents
However, in written and more formal spoken French ce sont is used when referring to a third person plural noun or pronoun :
- Qui est là ? - Ce sont mes parents / eux
"Who's there ?" - "It's my parents / them"
Il is used when the adjective refers forward to something about to be mentioned:
Il est surprenant que ses notes aient été si mauvaises
It is surprising that his marks were so poor
However, in spoken French it is more common to use ce:
C'est surprenant que ses notes aient été si mauvaises
Ce is used when the adjective refers back to something just expressed:
Ses notes ont été très mauvaises, c'est surprenant
His marks were very poor, it's surprising
The preposition de introduces the infinitive when referring forward to something about to be expressed, but the preposition à introduces the infinitive when referring back to something just expressed:
Il est difficile d'expliquer une telle conduite
It is difficult to explain behaviour such as that
Expliquer une telle conduite, c'est difficile à faire
Behaviour such as that is difficult to explain
Note the following constructions:
It is + adjective + for + pronoun + to do
Il + indirect pronoun + est + adjective + de faire
It is difficult for him to accept his new circumstances
Il lui est difficile d'accepter sa nouvelle situation
The structure c'est ... qui or c'est ... que is used to provide emphasis. C'est ... qui is used to emphasize a subject noun :
Ce sont les parents qui sont les vrais coupables
It's the parents who are the real guilty ones
C'est ... que can be used to refer to any other part of the sentence:
C'est à moi qu'il a envoyé le paquet
He sent the package to me
C'est grâce à lui que le paquet a été retrouvé
It's thanks to him that the package was found
For more information about creating emphasis, see Unit 50.
When using pronouns in the 3rd person singular or plural with être, the following rules apply:
Il and elle can only be used if they are followed by an adjective (without a noun ) or a complement (a noun behaving like an adjective):
Voilà ma maison. Elle est très belle
That's my house. It's very beautiful
Voilà Pierre. Il est très sympathique
There's Pierre. He's very nice
Voilà Mr Dupont. Il est professeur
There's Mr Dupont. He's a teacher
Ce is used when followed by a noun :
Voilà où j'habite. C'est une belle maison
That's where I live. It's a beautiful house
Voilà Pierre. C'est une personne sympathique
There's Pierre. He's a nice person
Voilà Mr Dupont. C'est un professeur
There's Mr Dupont. He's a teacher