What are the French indefinite pronouns?

The core set is quelqu'un, quelque chose, tout le monde, tout, chacun, plusieurs, certains, quelques-uns, d'autres, l'un, aucun, personne and rien, plus the n'importe series. They all replace a noun phrase whose identity is left unspecified: plusieurs sont partis, several left.

What's the difference between chaque and chacun?

Chaque is an adjective and must be followed by a noun: chaque jour, each day. Chacun is the pronoun and stands alone: chacun son tour, each in turn. If you can hear the noun after it, you want chaque.

Why is it quelqu'un de gentil and not quelqu'un gentil?

Because there is no noun for the adjective to lean on, French links the two with de: quelqu'un de gentil, quelque chose de beau, rien de grave. The adjective then stays in the masculine singular whoever you are describing.

Do indefinite pronouns take a singular or plural verb?

Most take the singular, including the ones that feel plural: tout le monde est là, chacun a ses raisons, personne n'est venu. The exceptions are the genuine quantity pronouns plusieurs, certains, quelques-uns and d'autres, which take the plural: plusieurs sont venus.

How do I say some of them or one of us?

Use d'entre before a stressed pronoun: certains d'entre eux, some of them; l'un d'entre nous, one of us; aucun d'entre vous, none of you. With a noun rather than a pronoun, plain de is enough: plusieurs de mes amis.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Indefinite Pronouns: Quelqu'un, Chacun, Plusieurs, Personne

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Indefinite pronouns stand in for people or things you can't or won't name: quelqu'un, quelque chose, chacun, plusieurs, certains, personne, rien. They replace a whole noun phrase rather than sitting in front of a noun, and most of them are treated as third-person singular.

Quelqu'un a laissé quelque chose pour toi.

Someone left something for you.

What it is

An indefinite pronoun names a quantity without naming an identity. Instead of saying which person or which object you mean, you point at an unspecified one, a few, each one, or none, and the pronoun does the work of the whole noun phrase on its own.

Chacun a apporté quelque chose, mais personne n'a apporté de pain. — Everyone brought something, but nobody brought bread.

How to spot it

An indefinite pronoun stands alone where a noun would go. If the word is followed by the noun it describes, you are looking at an indefinite adjective instead.

Quelqu'un a frappé. — Someone knocked. (subject, no noun follows)
J'en ai vu plusieurs. — I saw several. (object)
Chacun fait ce qu'il veut. — Each person does what they want.
Certains préfèrent le thé. — Some people prefer tea.

Almost all of these count as singular for the verb, even when the meaning is plural: tout le monde est arrivé, not sont arrivés.

Indefinite Pronouns Quick Reference

The indefinite pronouns you will meet most often

Pronoun	English	Example
quelqu'un	someone, somebody	Quelqu'un t'attend. — Someone's waiting for you.
quelque chose	something	Il a dit quelque chose. — He said something.
tout le monde	everyone	Tout le monde le sait. — Everyone knows.
chacun / chacune	each one	Chacune a son avis. — Each one has her own opinion.
plusieurs	several	Plusieurs sont venus. — Several came.
certains / certaines	some, certain ones	Certains n'aiment pas ça. — Some don't like it.
quelques-uns / quelques-unes	a few	J'en ai lu quelques-uns. — I've read a few.
personne / rien / aucun	nobody / nothing / none	Personne n'a répondu. — Nobody answered.

Common Indefinite Pronouns Examples in French

The main families, and how each one behaves in a sentence:

Unspecified People and Things

Quelqu'un a laissé un message.: Somebody left a message.
Tu cherches quelque chose ?: Are you looking for something?
Je connais quelqu'un qui travaille là.: I know someone who works there.
Il y a quelque chose qui ne va pas.: There's something wrong.

Quelqu'un never changes shape: there is no feminine *quelqu'une in modern French, only quelqu'un for any person.

Quantities Out of a Group

Plusieurs ont refusé l'invitation.: Several turned down the invitation.
Certaines sont restées jusqu'à la fin.: Some of them stayed until the end.
J'en ai gardé quelques-unes.: I kept a few of them.
L'un d'entre eux a tout avoué.: One of them confessed everything.

When the group is named, French uses d'entre before a pronoun: plusieurs d'entre nous, certains d'entre vous.

Every Member, One by One

Chacun paie sa part.: Each person pays their share.
Chacune de mes sœurs habite à Lyon.: Each of my sisters lives in Lyon.
Tout le monde était fatigué.: Everyone was tired.
Tout est prêt.: Everything's ready.

Chacun individualises, tout le monde treats the group as a block. Both take a singular verb.

Zero Quantity

Personne ne m'a prévenu.: Nobody warned me.
Je n'ai rien compris.: I didn't understand anything.
Aucun de mes amis ne fume.: None of my friends smoke.
Rien n'a changé.: Nothing has changed.

These carry the negation themselves, so they keep ne but drop pas. Je n'ai vu personne, never *je n'ai pas vu personne.

How Indefinite Pronouns Work

Four habits explain nearly everything these words do, including the ones that look like exceptions.

They Replace the Noun, Not Accompany It

This is what makes them pronouns. Chaque étudiant is an adjective plus a noun; chacun replaces the pair. If a noun follows, you have picked the wrong member of the family.

Chaque invité est arrivé à l'heure ; chacun avait un cadeau.

Each guest arrived on time; each one had a present.

Adjective + noun, or pronoun alone.

Most of Them Are Grammatically Singular

Tout le monde, chacun, quelqu'un, quelque chose, personne, rien and aucun all take a third-person singular verb, whatever they mean. Only plusieurs, certains, quelques-uns and d'autres take a plural verb.

Tout le monde veut savoir ce qui s'est passé.

Everyone wants to know what happened.

tout le monde veut, not veulent.

Some of Them Agree, Some Never Do

Chacun, certains, quelques-uns and aucun have feminine forms that must match the group they refer to: chacune, certaines, quelques-unes, aucune. Quelqu'un, quelque chose, personne, rien and plusieurs are invariable.

Parmi ces photos, certaines sont floues.

Among these photos, some are blurred.

Feminine group → chacune, certaines, aucune.

En Turns Up Whenever a Quantity Is an Object

When a quantity pronoun is the object of the verb, French adds en to point back at the group: j'en ai plusieurs, j'en connais quelques-uns. English leaves this implicit, which is why learners drop it.

Des erreurs ? J'en ai trouvé plusieurs.

Mistakes? I found several.

Quantity as object → en + verb + quantity.

Adjectives Attach With De

To describe quelqu'un, quelque chose, personne or rien, you insert de and use the masculine singular adjective. There is no noun for the adjective to agree with, so it stays in its default form.

J'ai lu quelque chose d'intéressant.

I read something interesting.

quelque chose de + masculine adjective.

Common Mistakes with Indefinite Pronouns

Incorrect: Tout le monde sont partis. — Everybody left.

Correct: Tout le monde est parti. — Everybody left.

Tout le monde looks plural and means a crowd, but it is grammatically third-person singular, so the verb and the past participle stay singular.

Incorrect: J'ai vu quelque chose intéressant. — I saw something interesting.

Correct: J'ai vu quelque chose d'intéressant. — I saw something interesting.

Adjectives attach to these pronouns with de. English joins the two words directly, which is why the de disappears so often.

Incorrect: Je n'ai pas vu personne. — I didn't see anybody.

Correct: Je n'ai vu personne. — I didn't see anybody.

Personne is itself the negative half of the sentence, so it takes the place of pas. Keeping both makes a double negative that reads as I saw somebody.

Incorrect: Chaque a son opinion. — Everyone has their own opinion.

Correct: Chacun a son opinion. — Everyone has their own opinion.

Chaque is an adjective and needs a noun behind it. Standing alone, the pronoun form chacun is the only option.

Two Patterns Worth Drilling

The negative indefinites and the de + adjective construction account for most of the errors English speakers make with this family.

Negative indefinites keep ne and drop pas

Personne, rien and aucun already mean the negative, so they replace pas rather than joining it. As subjects they sit at the front and ne comes before the verb; as objects they follow the verb.

Personne ne comprend.: Nobody understands.
Rien ne m'étonne plus.: Nothing surprises me any more.
Je n'ai rien à déclarer.: I have nothing to declare.
Aucune de ces solutions ne marche.: None of these solutions works.

On their own, without a verb, they lose ne entirely: Qui a appelé ? Personne. Who called? Nobody.

Describing an unnamed thing with de

Quelqu'un, quelque chose, personne and rien take de before an adjective, and the adjective stays masculine singular because there is no noun to agree with.

quelqu'un de sérieux: somebody serious
quelque chose de bizarre: something odd
rien de nouveau: nothing new
personne d'important: nobody important

The de is not optional. *Quelque chose intéressant is one of the most recognisable learner errors in French.

N'importe: the free-choice set

Adding n'importe in front of a question word gives you any at all, with a shrug built in: n'importe qui, n'importe quoi, n'importe où, n'importe quand.

N'importe qui peut le faire.: Anyone can do it.
Il dit n'importe quoi.: He's talking nonsense.
Appelle-moi n'importe quand.: Call me any time.

Dire n'importe quoi is idiomatic for talking rubbish, not for saying just anything, so it is worth learning as a unit.

Indefinite Pronouns FAQs

What are the French indefinite pronouns?: The core set is quelqu'un, quelque chose, tout le monde, tout, chacun, plusieurs, certains, quelques-uns, d'autres, l'un, aucun, personne and rien, plus the n'importe series. They all replace a noun phrase whose identity is left unspecified: plusieurs sont partis, several left.
What's the difference between chaque and chacun?: Chaque is an adjective and must be followed by a noun: chaque jour, each day. Chacun is the pronoun and stands alone: chacun son tour, each in turn. If you can hear the noun after it, you want chaque.
Why is it quelqu'un de gentil and not quelqu'un gentil?: Because there is no noun for the adjective to lean on, French links the two with de: quelqu'un de gentil, quelque chose de beau, rien de grave. The adjective then stays in the masculine singular whoever you are describing.
Do indefinite pronouns take a singular or plural verb?: Most take the singular, including the ones that feel plural: tout le monde est là, chacun a ses raisons, personne n'est venu. The exceptions are the genuine quantity pronouns plusieurs, certains, quelques-uns and d'autres, which take the plural: plusieurs sont venus.
How do I say some of them or one of us?: Use d'entre before a stressed pronoun: certains d'entre eux, some of them; l'un d'entre nous, one of us; aucun d'entre vous, none of you. With a noun rather than a pronoun, plain de is enough: plusieurs de mes amis.