Beginner Unit 63:

The pronouns nous, on, ils, elles

Key points

The French for we is nous or sometimes in spoken French, on.
To express they, ils is used for masculine words and elles is used for feminine words.

The French for we is nous:

Nous partons en France la semaine prochaine

We’re going to France next week

However, in spoken French the word on is often used:

On voudrait savoir où est l’Hotel de Ville

We’d like to know where the Town Hall is

The French have two words for they. Ils is used for masculine words and elles is used for feminine words:

Où sont les garçons? Ils sont dans le salon

Where are the boys? They’re in the lounge

Où sont les filles? Elles sont dans le jardin

Where are the girls? They’re in the garden

Note

Remember that this rules applies to things also. As things in English do not have a gender, it easy to forget that if the word they refers to is feminine you use elles and not ils:

Tes chaussettes? Elles sont dans le tiroir

Where are my socks? They’re in the drawer

Test yourself

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Multichoice test