Pronouns: avoid repetition

In French, various pronouns (pronoms) are used to avoid repetition. They make your sentences shorter and more elegant.

How do you say in French: ‘That is not my bicycle, that is yours’ without repeating ‘bicycle’? This can be achieved with pronouns! Below, we cover possessive pronouns (pronoms possessifs), demonstrative pronouns (pronoms démonstratifs), and indefinite pronouns (pronoms indéfinis).

Pronoms possessifs (possessive pronouns)

With pronoms possessifs, you indicate possession. They agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they replace.

Overview:

• Le mien, la mienne, les miens, les miennes (mine)
• Le tien, la tienne, les tiens, les tiennes (yours)
• Le sien, la sienne, les siens, les siennes (his/hers)

Examples:

• C’est mon livre. → C’est le mien. (That is my book → That is mine.)
• C’est sa maison. → C’est la sienne. (That is his/her house → That is his/hers.)

Pronoms démonstratifs (demonstrative pronouns)

These pronouns replace nouns and indicate where something is located. They agree in gender and number.

Overview:

• Celui, celle (this/that, singular)
• Ceux, celles (these/those, plural)
• Celui-ci, celle-ci (this one here)
• Celui-là, celle-là (that one there)
• Ceux-ci, celles-ci (these ones here, plural)
• Ceux-là, celles-là (those ones, plural)

Examples:

• Ce livre est à moi, celui-là est à toi. (This book is mine, that one is yours.)
• Celle qui parle est ma sœur. (The one who is speaking is my sister.)

Pronoms indéfinis (indefinite pronouns)

With pronoms indéfinis, you refer to a person or thing without being specific.

Commonly used forms:

• Quelqu’un (someone)
• Rien (nothing)
• Chacun (everyone)
• Tout (everything)
• Aucun(e) (none)

Examples:

• Quelqu’un est à la door. (Someone is at the door.)
• Je ne vois rien. (I see nothing.)
• Tout est prêt. (Everything is ready.)