French grammar · Intermediate
Impersonal Verbs in French: The Il That Means Nobody
An impersonal verb in French exists only in the third person singular, with an il that refers to nobody. Weather verbs work this way (il neige, il gèle), and so do il faut, il y a, il s'agit de, il vaut mieux and il reste. Because the subject is empty, these verbs have no nous or vous forms at all.
Il pleut depuis ce matin.
It has been raining since this morning.
What it is
French grammar insists that every verb have a subject, even when there is nothing to be the subject. The solution is an empty il, a placeholder that fills the slot without pointing at anything. Il pleut has no more of a real subject than English it's raining does.
Il pleut, il faut partir, il y a du monde, il vaut mieux attendre. — It's raining, we have to go, there are a lot of people, it's better to wait.
How to spot it
Try replacing il with a name or a noun. If the sentence collapses, the verb is impersonal: Pierre pleut is nonsense, so pleuvoir is impersonal.
- Il neige sur les Alpes. — It's snowing over the Alps.
- Il faut réserver à l'avance. — You have to book in advance.
- Il reste deux places. — There are two seats left.
- Il s'agit d'une erreur administrative. — It's a matter of an administrative error.
This il is never elle and never ils. Even where the following noun is feminine or plural, the verb stays singular: il reste deux places, not ils restent.
Impersonal Verbs Quick Reference
The impersonal verbs and expressions you meet most
| Expression | Meaning | What follows it |
|---|---|---|
| il pleut, il neige, il gèle | it's raining, snowing, freezing | nothing, or a place |
| il fait beau, il fait froid | the weather is fine, cold | an adjective or noun |
| il faut | it is necessary, you have to | an infinitive, a noun, or que + subjunctive |
| il y a | there is, there are | a noun, singular or plural |
| il reste, il manque | there is … left, there is … missing | a noun |
| il s'agit de | it's about, it's a matter of | a noun or an infinitive |
| il vaut mieux | it's better to | an infinitive, or que + subjunctive |
| il suffit de | it's enough to, you only need to | an infinitive or a noun |
Common Impersonal Verbs Examples in French
Impersonal verbs grouped by what they do:
Weather and Time of Day
- Il pleuvait toute la journée.
- It rained all day.
- Il gèle encore la nuit.
- It's still freezing at night.
- Il fait déjà nuit à cinq heures.
- It's already dark at five.
- Il y a du vent aujourd'hui.
- It's windy today.
French uses faire for most weather, not être: il fait chaud, never il est chaud, when you mean the weather.
Necessity and Advice
- Il faut partir maintenant.
- We have to leave now.
- Il faut que tu me rappelles.
- You need to call me back.
- Il vaut mieux ne rien dire.
- It's better to say nothing.
- Il suffit d'appuyer sur le bouton.
- You only need to press the button.
Il faut is the impersonal counterpart of devoir. It states the obligation without naming who carries it.
Existence and Quantity
- Il y a trois candidats.
- There are three candidates.
- Il reste un peu de café.
- There's a little coffee left.
- Il manque une signature.
- There's a signature missing.
- Il existe plusieurs solutions.
- There are several solutions.
All four stay singular whatever follows: il manque deux pages, il reste des places.
Framing and Commenting
- Il s'agit de ton avenir.
- This is about your future.
- Il paraît qu'ils déménagent.
- Apparently they're moving.
- Il arrive que le train soit annulé.
- The train is sometimes cancelled.
- Il est important de bien dormir.
- It's important to sleep well.
Il est plus an adjective plus de is the standard frame for a general comment: il est difficile de choisir.
How Impersonal Verbs Behave
The empty subject has consequences all through the sentence, from agreement to which pronouns are possible.
The Verb Never Agrees With What Follows
The grammatical subject is il, so the verb stays third person singular even when the noun after it is plural. Il reste deux places, il manque des documents, il y a beaucoup de gens.
Il reste encore deux exercices à faire.
There are still two exercises left to do.
Singular verb, plural noun, no problem.
There Is No Nous or Vous Form
A verb with an empty subject cannot be conjugated for a person, so the paradigm has one cell filled and five empty. Falloir and pleuvoir literally do not have a je form.
Il faudra que nous partions tôt.
We'll have to leave early.
One form only: the il.
The Il Cannot Be Replaced or Stressed
Because it points at nothing, this il has no stressed counterpart. You cannot say lui, il pleut, and you cannot turn it into a question with qui: qui pleut ? is meaningless.
Est-ce qu'il pleut encore ?
Is it still raining?
No lui, no qui, just il.
Some Impersonals Trigger the Subjunctive
Il faut que, il vaut mieux que, il est possible que and il arrive que all present something as required or uncertain rather than factual, and take the subjunctive. Il paraît que and il est certain que present facts, and take the indicative.
Il vaut mieux que tu y ailles seul.
It's better if you go alone.
Necessity and doubt, subjunctive.
Personal Verbs Can Be Used Impersonally
Arriver, rester, manquer, exister and sembler all have ordinary personal uses too. In the impersonal frame, what would be the subject moves after the verb: deux pages manquent becomes il manque deux pages.
Il arrive parfois qu'elle oublie.
It sometimes happens that she forgets.
Subject after the verb, il in front.
Common Mistakes with Impersonal Verbs
Incorrect: Ils restent deux places. — There are two seats left.
Correct: Il reste deux places. — There are two seats left.
The subject is the empty il, not deux places. The noun sits after the verb as a kind of complement, so the verb never becomes plural.
Incorrect: Ce film s'agit de la guerre. — This film is about the war.
Correct: Dans ce film, il s'agit de la guerre. — This film is about the war.
S'agir only ever has il as its subject. To keep the film as the subject, use another verb: ce film parle de la guerre.
Incorrect: Nous faut partir. — We have to leave.
Correct: Il faut que nous partions. — We have to leave.
Falloir cannot be conjugated for a person. To name who is obliged, either add que plus the subjunctive or switch to devoir: nous devons partir.
Incorrect: Il est chaud aujourd'hui. — It's hot today.
Correct: Il fait chaud aujourd'hui. — It's hot today.
Weather runs on faire, not être. Il est chaud can only describe a specific thing being hot, such as a radiator or a drink.
Impersonal Verbs Across the Tenses
The tenses behave normally; it is the persons that are missing. A dash below means the form does not exist in French at all.
One person, five gaps
This is what an impersonal paradigm looks like in the present. Nothing is left out for brevity: those forms simply have no meaning.
| Pronoun | falloir | pleuvoir | y avoir | valoir mieux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | — | — | — | — |
| tu | — | — | — | — |
| il | il faut | il pleut | il y a | il vaut mieux |
| nous | — | — | — | — |
| vous | — | — | — | — |
| ils / elles | — | — | — | — |
Pleuvoir does have a marginal plural, ils pleuvent, used figuratively of insults and blows raining down.
The il form through the tenses
Since only the il exists, learning an impersonal verb means learning one form per tense rather than six.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | passé composé | futur |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| falloir | il faut | il fallait | il a fallu | il faudra |
| pleuvoir | il pleut | il pleuvait | il a plu | il pleuvra |
| y avoir | il y a | il y avait | il y a eu | il y aura |
| neiger | il neige | il neigeait | il a neigé | il neigera |
| s'agir de | il s'agit de | il s'agissait de | — | il s'agira de |
| valoir mieux | il vaut mieux | il valait mieux | il a mieux valu | il vaudra mieux |
S'agir has no usable compound past: French rephrases with c'était instead of trying to build one.
Conditional and subjunctive
The conditional softens an impersonal into advice; the subjunctive is needed after conjunctions like bien que and pour que.
| Pronoun | conditionnel | subjonctif |
|---|---|---|
| falloir | il faudrait | qu'il faille |
| pleuvoir | il pleuvrait | qu'il pleuve |
| y avoir | il y aurait | qu'il y ait |
| valoir mieux | il vaudrait mieux | qu'il vaille mieux |
Il faudrait is the everyday polite form: il faudrait vérifier is much softer than il faut vérifier.
Il S'agit De, Il Vaut Mieux, and the Frames Built on Il Est
Three impersonal structures do a lot of work in French and have no word-for-word English equivalent.
Il s'agit de
This means it's about or it's a question of. It cannot take a personal subject: ce livre s'agit de is wrong, because the thing discussed cannot be the subject.
- Il s'agit d'un malentendu.
- It's a misunderstanding.
- Dans ce roman, il s'agit de la guerre.
- This novel is about the war.
- Il s'agit de savoir qui décide.
- The question is who decides.
- Quand il s'agit d'argent, il devient sérieux.
- When it comes to money, he gets serious.
To say a book is about something with a real subject, use parler de: ce livre parle de la guerre.
Il vaut mieux and il valait mieux
Valoir mieux gives advice. With an infinitive it is general; with que it targets a person and takes the subjunctive.
- Il vaut mieux arriver en avance.
- It's better to arrive early.
- Il vaudrait mieux que tu lui écrives.
- It would be better if you wrote to him.
- Il valait mieux ne rien dire.
- It was better to say nothing.
- Il vaut mieux qu'elle sache la vérité.
- It's better that she know the truth.
Mieux vaut is a shorter written variant: mieux vaut tard que jamais, better late than never.
Il est + adjective + de
To comment on an action in general, French uses il est plus an adjective plus de plus an infinitive. C'est replaces il est in relaxed speech.
- Il est difficile de choisir.
- It's hard to choose.
- Il est interdit de fumer ici.
- Smoking is prohibited here.
- C'est important de bien dormir.
- It's important to sleep properly.
- Il est possible qu'elle soit déjà partie.
- It's possible she has already left.
Note the two patterns: de before an infinitive, que plus subjunctive before a clause.
Impersonal Verbs FAQs
- What is an impersonal verb in French?
- A verb whose subject is an empty il that refers to nothing: il pleut, il faut, il y a, il s'agit de. Because there is no real subject, these verbs exist only in the third person singular.
- Which French verbs are impersonal?
- The weather verbs (pleuvoir, neiger, geler, grêler), falloir, y avoir, s'agir de, valoir mieux, suffire de, and a set of verbs that can be used impersonally: rester, manquer, arriver, exister, sembler, paraître.
- Why does il reste deux places stay singular?
- Because deux places is not the subject. Il is, and it is singular by definition. The same applies to il manque trois pages and il y a beaucoup de monde: the verb never agrees with what follows.
- Do impersonal expressions take the subjunctive?
- Some do. Il faut que, il vaut mieux que, il est possible que and il arrive que all take the subjunctive: il faut que tu viennes. Ones that state a fact, such as il paraît que and il est évident que, keep the indicative.
- How do you say 'it's about' in French?
- Il s'agit de, with il as the only possible subject: il s'agit d'un problème technique. If you want the thing itself as subject, use parler de or porter sur: l'article parle de l'économie.