Do French people really not use nous?

They use it in writing and in careful speech, but in conversation on has almost entirely replaced it as the subject: on y va, on a mangé. Nous survives as the stressed form and as an object pronoun, which is why nous, on y va is perfectly normal.

Is it rude to use tu?

It is with strangers, officials, shopkeepers and anyone noticeably older. Among friends, family, students and colleagues of a similar age it is the norm, and sticking to vous there sounds cold. If you are unsure, use vous and wait for on peut se tutoyer.

It is tu as with the vowel of tu swallowed, which is how the two words are actually pronounced: t'as faim ? are you hungry? It belongs to speech and text messages; in anything formal you write tu as.

Why do people say moi, je instead of just je?

The stressed pronoun marks a contrast with somebody else's position: moi, je préfère rester, meaning as for me, I'd rather stay. It is extremely common and carries no arrogance, but it does need a real contrast to sound natural.

Can I drop ne in negation?

In speech, yes, and almost everyone does: je sais pas, y a personne. In writing, keep it. Dropping ne is the clearest single marker of the informal register, so it is also the fastest way to make a formal message sound wrong.

French grammar · Intermediate

Informal French Pronouns: Tu, On, Ça, and the Doubled Subject

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

Casual French uses a smaller, blunter set of pronouns than the textbook one: tu rather than vous, on rather than nous, ça for both people and things, and a stressed pronoun doubled up in front of the subject. None of it is incorrect, but all of it signals that you are speaking rather than writing.

Nous, on y va ; toi, tu restes ici ?

We're off; are you staying here?

What it is

Spoken French leans on a handful of pronoun habits that rarely appear in a grammar exercise. Nous almost disappears in favour of on, ça takes over from il and elle for anything impersonal, and speakers routinely announce the subject twice, once stressed and once unstressed.

Nous, on part demain, et lui, il nous rejoint après. — We're leaving tomorrow, and he's joining us afterwards.

How to spot it

Three signals tell you that you are in the informal register: on where you expected nous, a stressed pronoun sitting in front of the real subject, and ça referring to something a textbook would call il.

On se voit demain ? — Shall we meet tomorrow? (on = nous)
Moi, j'ai rien compris. — I didn't get any of it. (doubled subject, ne dropped)
Ça m'énerve. — It's annoying me.
Toi, tu exagères. — You're going too far.

On always takes a third-person singular verb, however many people it refers to: on est arrivés, never on sont arrivés.

Informal Pronouns Quick Reference

The everyday form and its written equivalent

Informal	Standard / written	Note
on part	nous partons	on for we is the norm in speech
tu peux m'aider ?	pourriez-vous m'aider ?	tu with friends, family, colleagues your age
ça m'intéresse	cela m'intéresse	ça is the spoken form of cela
nous, on y va	nous y allons	the doubled subject adds contrast
t'as compris ?	tu as compris ?	tu reduced to t' before a vowel in speech
y a un problème	il y a un problème	il drops out of il y a
c'est qui ?	qui est-ce ?	no inversion in casual questions

Common Informal Pronouns Examples in French

The four habits that define the informal register:

On Instead of Nous

On mange à quelle heure ?: What time are we eating?
On est allés au cinéma hier.: We went to the cinema yesterday.
On peut se tutoyer ?: Shall we use tu with each other?
On y va ou on reste ?: Are we going or staying?

The verb stays singular, but an adjective or participle can go plural to show the real meaning: on est fatigués.

The Doubled Subject

Moi, je préfère marcher.: I'd rather walk, personally.
Nous, on n'était pas au courant.: We didn't know about it.
Eux, ils partent en juillet.: They're leaving in July.
Elle, elle ne dit jamais rien.: She never says anything.

The stressed pronoun sets you against someone else. Without a contrast in the air it sounds odd rather than emphatic.

Ça for People and Things

Ça marche pour vendredi ?: Does Friday work?
Ça sent bon.: That smells good.
Les gens, ça parle trop.: People talk too much.
Ça t'ennuie si j'ouvre la fenêtre ?: Do you mind if I open the window?

Applied to a person, ça is dismissive or affectionate depending on the tone, so it needs handling with care.

Tu With Its Own Verb Forms

Tu viens avec nous ?: Are you coming with us?
T'inquiète pas.: Don't worry.
Qu'est-ce que tu fais ce week-end ?: What are you doing this weekend?
Tu me passes le sel ?: Can you pass me the salt?

A statement with a question mark at the end is the standard informal question: tu viens ? rather than viens-tu ?

How the Informal Register Works

These are not shortcuts invented by lazy speakers; each one follows a consistent grammatical pattern of its own.

On Is Grammatically Singular

Whatever it means, on conjugates like il and elle. The plural leaks out only into adjectives and past participles, which may agree with the people on actually refers to.

On est prêts, on peut partir.

We're ready, we can go.

on + il-form of the verb.

The Doubled Subject Needs a Stressed Pronoun

Only moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux and elles can sit in the topic slot at the front. Je, tu, il and on cannot appear there, because they have no stress of their own.

Lui, il ne dit rien ; moi, je trouve ça bizarre.

He's saying nothing; I find it odd.

Stressed pronoun, comma, ordinary subject.

Tu and Vous Are a Social Choice, Not a Number

Vous is both the plural you and the polite singular. Using tu with a stranger, an official or a much older person is a social error rather than a grammatical one, and it is noticed immediately.

On peut se tutoyer, si tu veux.

We can switch to tu, if you like.

Wait to be offered tu.

Ça Absorbs Cela and Some of Il

Ça is the spoken form of cela and covers any unnamed situation. It also replaces il in a number of set phrases where English would use it: ça va, ça marche, ça dépend.

Ça dépend de la météo.

It depends on the weather.

Unnamed situation → ça.

Reduced Forms Are Spoken, Not Written

T'as, y a and j'sais pas are accurate transcriptions of ordinary speech, but they belong in dialogue and text messages only. In anything formal, write out tu as, il y a and je ne sais pas.

T'as vu l'heure ?

Have you seen the time?

Say it, don't write it.

Common Mistakes with Informal Pronouns

Incorrect: On sont arrivés en retard. — We arrived late.

Correct: On est arrivés en retard. — We arrived late.

On means we but conjugates like il, so the verb stays singular. Only the participle may go plural, which is what makes the singular verb feel wrong to English speakers.

Incorrect: Nous, nous on part. — We're leaving.

Correct: Nous, on part. — We're leaving.

The doubled subject uses the stressed pronoun once and the real subject once. Stacking nous nous on gives you three subjects for one verb.

Incorrect: Je suis d'accord avec tu. — I agree with you.

Correct: Je suis d'accord avec toi. — I agree with you.

Tu only works as the subject of a verb. After a preposition the informal register still needs the stressed form toi, exactly as the formal one needs vous.

Incorrect: Bonjour, tu peux m'aider à trouver ce dossier ? — Hello, can you help me find this file?

Correct: Bonjour, vous pouvez m'aider à trouver ce dossier ? — Hello, can you help me find this file?

Addressing a stranger or an official with tu reads as either rude or oddly familiar. The safe rule is to start with vous and switch only when invited to.

What Speech Actually Sounds Like

Recognising these reductions matters more than producing them: they are everywhere in conversation, films and songs.

Tu reduced to t'

Before a vowel, tu loses its vowel in speech and is often written t' in informal messages. The verb itself does not change.

T'as raison.: You're right.
T'es sûr ?: Are you sure?
T'inquiète.: Don't worry about it.

T'inquiète is a shortened ne t'inquiète pas, and it has become a fixed expression in its own right.

Subjects that fall away

Unstressed il disappears in a few very frequent expressions, and ne vanishes from negation almost entirely in casual speech.

Y a personne.: There's nobody there.
Faut y aller.: We've got to go.
Je sais pas.: I don't know.

The written forms are il y a, il faut y aller and je ne sais pas. Dropping ne is universal in speech and unacceptable in an exam.

Questions without inversion

Informal French asks questions by intonation or by putting the question word at the end, leaving the word order of a statement untouched.

Tu pars quand ?: When are you leaving?
C'est qui ?: Who is it?
Tu vas où comme ça ?: Where are you off to?

The inverted quand pars-tu ? and the est-ce que version are both correct; they simply sound more careful.

Informal Pronouns FAQs

Do French people really not use nous?: They use it in writing and in careful speech, but in conversation on has almost entirely replaced it as the subject: on y va, on a mangé. Nous survives as the stressed form and as an object pronoun, which is why nous, on y va is perfectly normal.
Is it rude to use tu?: It is with strangers, officials, shopkeepers and anyone noticeably older. Among friends, family, students and colleagues of a similar age it is the norm, and sticking to vous there sounds cold. If you are unsure, use vous and wait for on peut se tutoyer.
What does t'as mean?: It is tu as with the vowel of tu swallowed, which is how the two words are actually pronounced: t'as faim ? are you hungry? It belongs to speech and text messages; in anything formal you write tu as.
Why do people say moi, je instead of just je?: The stressed pronoun marks a contrast with somebody else's position: moi, je préfère rester, meaning as for me, I'd rather stay. It is extremely common and carries no arrogance, but it does need a real contrast to sound natural.
Can I drop ne in negation?: In speech, yes, and almost everyone does: je sais pas, y a personne. In writing, keep it. Dropping ne is the clearest single marker of the informal register, so it is also the fastest way to make a formal message sound wrong.