** - Il denotes masculine nouns, elle denotes feminine nouns, and on is for indeterminate subjects (see below).
*** - Ils is used with all-male or mixed groups, elles is only used when all members of the group are female.
Examples:
Jack et Philipp parlent - Jack and Philipp speak
Ils parlent - They speak (all-male group)
Jack et Lucy parlent - Jack and Lucy speak
Ils parlent - They speak (mixed group)
Lucy et Dina parlent - Lucy and Dina speak
Elles parlent - They speak (all female group)
The pronoun on
The subject pronoun on is similar to the English personal pronoun one, except that it is not so formal, and is more common. It has a number of uses:
It is used in the same ways as the English personal pronoun one: It is used in expressing generalities: « C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. » ("It is by blacksmithing that one becomes a blacksmith.")
It is the implicit subject for an infinitive that has no other implicit subject: « penser qu'on a raison » ("to think that one is right," i.e. "to think oneself right").
Because of French's limited passive voice, it is often used as an empty subject when the agent is unknown or unimportant: « On me l'a donné. » (" [On] gave it to me" or "I was given it" or "It was given to me.")
It is used as a less formal substitute for the subject pronoun nous ( we). In this case, note that even though on always takes a third-person singular verb, it takes plural adjectives (« On est américains »,
"We're American"). Also, note that the other forms of nous (direct object, indirect object, and disjunctive) are not replaced by forms of on unless on is the subject as well. (Hence, « Ils nous l'ont donné », "They gave it to us," but « On se l'est donné », "We gave it to ourselves.") It is not the number 1, and therefore is not used to mean "one of them." In French as in English, numbers can be used as pronouns ? « Deux sont entrés et un est ressorti »,
"Two went in and one came back out" ? but the number 1 is un(e), not on.
On does not have ordinary direct- and indirect-object pronouns, only the reflexive pronoun se. Similarly, its disjunctive-pronoun form, soi, is only used when on is the subject and soi refers to the same entity. The pronoun quelqu'un ("someone") can fill some of the roles of on, in the same way that one and someone are sometimes interchangeable in English.
me, te, nous, and vous
Direct and indirect object pronouns
Meanings
me - me, to me
te - you, to you (singular, informal)
lui - to him/her
nous - us, to us
vous - you, to you (plural, formal)
leur - to them
Place in sentences
These pronouns are placed before the verb that they modify
Je te vois. - I see you.
Je veux te voir. - I want to see you.
If a perfect tense is used, these pronouns go before the auxillary verb.
Je t'ai vu. - I saw you.
Direct object replacement
Il me voit. - He sees me.
Il te voit. - He sees you.
Il nous voit. - He sees us.
Il vous voit. - He sees you.
Indirect Object Replacement
Il m'appelle. - He calls to me.
