Impersonal pronouns (1)

1 Definition

An impersonal pronoun is a pronoun such as il, ce, cela or ça that does not take the place of a specific noun . Rather it refers to something implied in the context, such as the weather in:

Il fait beau aujourd'hui

The weather's nice today

or else to something about to be mentioned:

Il est important que Pierre obtienne cet emploi

It's important for Peter to get this job

2 Constructions taking il

2.1 Il y a / Il existe

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.

Il y a beaucoup de choses à faire

There are a lot of things to do

Il n'existe pas de meilleure équipe

There's no better team

2.2 Il faut

This can be followed by a noun , an infinitive or a que clause (in which case it takes the subjunctive ):

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 how serious the situation is

2.3 Il s'agit de

This construction is most commonly used:

•  to describe 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

•  to describe 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

2.4 Expressions of time

Quelle heure est-il?

What time is it?

Il est 5 heures / midi

It's 5 o' clock /midday

Je crois que je vais partir - Il est tard

I think I'm going to leave - It's late

Il est temps que tu ailles au lit

It's time you went to bed

2.5 Expressions about the weather, temperature etc.

2.6 Il reste, Il manque

Il reste encore quelques places

There are still a few places left

Il manque un livre

There's a book missing

2.7 Constructions taking an infinitive / que

There are a large number of constructions taking the infinitive or que 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

For information about using the indicative or subjunctive after these contructions, see Unit 25.