Year 7 French the subject pronouns

COPY ALL of the UNDERLINED notes on this worksheet into

your exercise book AND do the activity to practise using subject
pronouns.

A. the subject pronouns

Subject pronouns replace nouns when we write or speak.
Look at the following text:
Example: My sister is called Mary. SHE is 9 years old. SHE likes spaghetti.
Instead of constantly writing/saying ‘my sister’, we replace that noun with the
pronoun she. It makes the writing/speaking more fluent, more natural.

 Copy the chart with the subject pronouns in French and

in English into your exercise book.

singular singular plural plural

(column 1) (column 1) (column 2) (column 2)

I je we nous

you tu you all vous

he, it il they ils

she, it elle they elles

Let’s look more closely at these subject pronouns:

a. There are two columns because the subject pronouns in the first column
(column1) are all singular. That means, there is only ONE person/thing. In
the second column (column 2), the subject pronouns are all plural. That
means, there are TWO or more persons/things.
b. Notice that the subject pronouns in the second column all have the letter
‘s’ on the end of the word in French. The letter ‘s’ shows plural in French as
it does in English.
c. There are TWO ways to say ‘they’ in French. Why? Because it depends on
the gender (masculine/feminine) of the subject pronoun.
So use ils if the subjects are masculine only or a mixed group of masculine
and feminine.
Examples: Marc et Richard = ils (2 boys)
Marc et Julie = ils (a girl and a boy so use ils)

Use elles if the subjects are feminine ONLY

Examples: Julie et Juliette = elles
Ma mère et ma cousine = elles

d. There are TWO ways to say ‘you’.

1. Tu is used when saying ‘you’ to someone you know well or someone who is
your age or younger. We call this being ‘informal’. You would use this to
talk/write to your friend/your sister/ your mum/your cousin
2. Vous is used when saying ‘you’ to someone you do not know well.
Someone you would normally address as Mr or Mrs. We call this being
‘formal’ (or respectful or polite). You would use this to talk/write to your
teacher/the salesperson at a shop/the principal/your elderly next door
neighbour.
3. Vous is ALSO used formally or informally when addressing MORE than one
person.
So, if you are talking to your mum and dad, you have to use vous. You are
NOT being formal but there are TWO people so you have to use vous.

a. Let’s try using these subject pronouns.

  Replace the subject with the subject pronoun in ENGLISH and in
FRENCH.
 The first two have been done for you.

COPY and COMPLETE the task below.

subject English subject pronoun French subject pronoun
Michelle she elle
Anne and Paul they ils
My brother
Her parents
Our car
My sister and I
Your dad and you
Nicholas and you
my friends and I
his best friend Sophie
You and Christine
My family and I
Her bike
My brother and sister
My friend’s dad

Go to Quizlet and practise the subject pronouns. Learn the French and the
English meanings.
https://quizlet.com/join/PGHPh72Ne
Be sure that you know what the subject pronouns are in French and what they
mean when you SEE them written in a text, when you HEAR them in a text and so
that you can WRITE them in French.

For further practice and to consolidate the material, use this Kahoot.
https://kahoot.it/challenge/03812014?challenge-id=ce580a0b-d1e3-4e9e-
8556-6b69a4c8884d_1594959858658