This pronoun, that pronoun, these pronouns, those pronouns… What do you want! 😩
It confuses me to this day, but today I have a courage to write a post about it.
First things first, what is ‘pronouns’
Pronouns are words or phrases you substitute for nouns when your reader or listener already knows which noun you are referring to. (definition from Grammarly)
As writing this, I must admit that I should have searched the definition before studying pronouns. I overestimated my basic knowledge.
There are so many pronouns in any language I believe, but why is it so confusing for me even though the definition ‘defines’ it so… simple?
Just a heads up, I'm not a professional teacher, but rather another learner. The information I share might not be entirely accurate.
How I created my Pronouns ‘cheatsheet’, c’est parti.
1. Types of Pronouns and other things
Why? Why people teach each types of pronouns separately? In the midst of the chaos, I found a ray of light. To learn these French pronouns easier I found learning them all at once is the most effective way (for me).
Here are pronouns that I learnt and its definition, example and my comment. (I won’t explain details of each, but rather focus on showing what I discovered between these types. So, if you haven’t learned them yet please do, and refer to this information when you review. It will help you a lot.):
Direct Object Pronouns (DOP): These replace the direct object in a sentence. They answer the question "what" or "whom" in relation to the verb.
Tu aimes la musique? — Je l’adore.
Indirect Object Pronouns (IOP): These replace the indirect object, indicating to or for whom or what the action of the verb is done.
Elle parle à Jean. — Elle lui parle.
If you can say with “to” whom or what then it is indirect object. In the first sentence, you can find ‘à’ that is somewhat equivalent to ‘to’, however in the second sentence where IOP is used, you cannot find them since it embraces ‘to’ inside itself. So even though you cannot find ‘to’, it is translated ‘She spoke to him.’
Emphatic Pronouns (EP): These pronouns are used to emphasise or give emphasis to a noun or pronoun in a sentence.
À qui appartiennent ces manteaux ? - Ça appartient à elles.
Qui est ton frère? - C’est lui.
I still don’t get why it is called “emphatic” I do not think it “emphasises”. If anyone can help me understand how it is “emphasising”, please..
Reflexive Pronouns (RP): They are used when the subject of the verb performs the action on itself.
Je me lave
Reflexive verbs… this is whole another article.
Possessive Adjectives (PA): These are adjectives used to indicate possession or ownership.
Il regarde sur son telephone
I know it’s not ‘the pronouns’, I will explain why it is in this. Please learn these above individually first to fully profit this page.
One reason I figured why I got confused with French pronouns is that even though it belongs to a different category they share the same words.
For example: me/m’ can be 1) direct object pronouns, 2) indirect object pronouns, and 3) reflexive pronouns 😑
And I added Possessive Adjective in the list because there are duplicates with the pronouns above.
2. My cheatsheet!
Tada.
Let’s try making some sentences
Ce matin, j’ai mangé une tartine avec du beurre. Je l’adore. De temps en temps, mon père me demande que je mange une tartine avec lui. Après l’avoir mangé, je me suis lavé les mains. Avant de partir, je cherche mes clés, mon téléphone et ma écharpe. Je suis prête, c’est parti!
Have a go making a paragraph like this using all these 5 types. Try using not only what I used the above, tweak a little and make your paragraph with your stories!
I have to say that I still cannot use them automatically, but I have this table at least that helps me. Whenever I am confused I look at them. I cannot really distinguish what is direct or indirect object or etc. When I try using them I forgot all the grammar explanations. I think getting familiarised and exposing oneself to the language are the best way to embody them naturally, and of course lots of mistakes as well!
A paragraph for you and for me!
Have a read and circle the pronouns and adjectives that you can recognise like I did in my paragraph. This is GPT’s paragraph, check the AI whether it wrote the 5 types and test yourself with your understanding.
Hier, j'ai pris ma tasse de café et je l'ai remplie avec mon lait préféré. Ensuite, en me regardant dans le miroir, je me suis souri. J'ai mis mes propres gants pour me protéger du froid. Pendant ma promenade, j'ai rencontré mon ami. Je lui ai donné un salut chaleureux et je lui ai proposé de prendre un café avec moi. Il a accepté et nous nous sommes rendus au café du coin. Une fois là-bas, j'ai commandé deux cafés, un pour lui et un pour moi. C'était une journée agréable.
J’espère que mon processus vous a aidé, et happy learning!
This is such a helpful resource for anyone struggling with French pronouns. (Especially those of us who can’t remember what we ate for breakfast this morning, much less grammar lessons we learned way back in elementary school—a really, really long time ago for oldsters like me!) I hate to muddy the waters further, but don’t forget that in cases where the word begins with a vowel sound, the pronouns revert to their masculine forms regardless of gender for pronunciation purposes—to resolve the glottal stop problem that French goes to desperate lengths to avoid. So “ma écharpe” becomes “mon écharpe”…(and son école, mon amie, ton idée, etc.)
Pronouns are a struggle and I'm always happy whenever I get one correct 😅