What are the personal pronouns in French?

There are five series. Subject: je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles. Direct object: me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les. Indirect object: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur. Reflexive: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. Stressed: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles.

How do I know which series to use?

By the grammatical job. Doing the verb: subject. Acted on with no preposition: direct object. Reached through à: indirect object. Identical to the subject: reflexive. Alone, emphatic or after a preposition: stressed. Meaning has nothing to do with it.

Why does French have so many forms for one pronoun?

Because unstressed and stressed pronouns developed differently. The unstressed forms fused onto the verb over centuries and shrank, giving me, te, le and lui, while the stressed forms kept their weight and became moi, toi and eux. That's why the two sets look so unlike each other.

What's the difference between moi and me?

Me is unstressed and attaches to a verb: il me voit. Moi is stressed and appears alone, after a preposition, in a comparison or after a positive command: avec moi, plus que moi, regarde-moi. They translate the same English word but never swap places.

Which French pronouns don't change form at all?

Nous and vous, which fill every slot with the same word. Elle also stays elle in the subject and stressed columns, and elles in the plural. Everything else changes shape depending on the role it's playing.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Personal Pronouns: All Five Series in One Place

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

French personal pronouns come in five parallel series: subject (je, tu, il), direct object (me, le, les), indirect object (me, lui, leur), reflexive (me, te, se) and stressed (moi, toi, lui, eux). The same person is expressed by a different word in each series, and the series is chosen by the grammatical job, not by the meaning.

Elle me l'a dit, mais lui, il ne veut pas nous en parler.

She told me, but he doesn't want to talk to us about it.

What it is

English gets by with two forms for most persons, I and me, he and him. French uses five, because it distinguishes the subject, the direct object, the indirect object, the reflexive and the stressed position. Learning the pronouns therefore means learning a grid rather than a list, and knowing which column a given sentence needs.

Je le lui donne, mais lui, il me le rend. — I give it to him, but he gives it back to me.

How to spot it

Identify the job before the person. Is the pronoun doing the verb, being acted on, receiving something through à, referring back to the subject, or standing on its own? Each answer picks a different column.

Il travaille ici. — He works here. (subject)
Je le connais. — I know him. (direct object)
Je lui écris. — I'm writing to him. (indirect object)
C'est pour lui. — It's for him. (stressed)

Nous and vous fill every column with the same word, which makes them the simplest pronouns in the language and also the ones whose role is hardest to see.

Personal Pronouns Quick Reference

The five series, person by person

Person	Subject	Direct	Indirect	Reflexive	Stressed
1st singular	je / j'	me / m'	me / m'	me / m'	moi
2nd singular	tu	te / t'	te / t'	te / t'	toi
3rd sing. masc.	il	le / l'	lui	se / s'	lui
3rd sing. fem.	elle	la / l'	lui	se / s'	elle
1st plural	nous	nous	nous	nous	nous
2nd plural	vous	vous	vous	vous	vous
3rd plur. masc.	ils	les	leur	se / s'	eux
3rd plur. fem.	elles	les	leur	se / s'	elles

Common Personal Pronouns Examples in French

The same person, him, moving through four of the five series:

Subject: the One Doing the Verb

Il habite au bout de la rue.: He lives at the end of the street.
Elles ne viennent pas ce soir.: They're not coming tonight.
Nous avons tout préparé.: We've prepared everything.
Tu comprends la question ?: Do you understand the question?

Subject pronouns can never stand alone or follow a preposition. They exist only in front of a verb.

Object: Direct and Indirect

Je les ai rencontrés à Bordeaux.: I met them in Bordeaux.
Je leur ai promis de venir.: I promised them I'd come.
Elle m'a tout raconté.: She told me everything.
On vous rappelle demain.: We'll call you back tomorrow.

Direct objects follow the verb with no preposition; indirect ones are reached through à. Only the third person distinguishes them: le and la against lui, les against leur.

Reflexive: Pointing Back at the Subject

Elle se prépare.: She's getting ready.
Nous nous écrivons souvent.: We write to each other often.
Ils se sont perdus.: They got lost.
Je me demande pourquoi.: I wonder why.

Se is the only form in the whole grid that has no equivalent in the other series, and it covers both singular and plural.

Stressed: Standing on Its Own

Moi, je préfère rester.: I'd rather stay.
Ce colis est pour eux.: That parcel is for them.
Elle est plus rapide que toi.: She's faster than you.
Qui est là ? Nous.: Who's there? Us.

Anything that gives a pronoun weight, a preposition, a comparison, emphasis or being alone in a reply, calls for this series.

How to Navigate the Grid

Five questions, asked in order, will get you to the right pronoun every time.

Is It Doing the Verb?

If the pronoun is the one performing the action, take the subject series and put it immediately in front of the verb. French cannot leave this slot empty, so a subject is compulsory in every clause.

Elle chante et il joue du piano.

She sings and he plays the piano.

Does the verb → subject series.

Does the Verb Reach It Directly?

If the noun would follow the verb with nothing in between, the pronoun is a direct object: le, la, les. It goes in front of the verb and makes the past participle agree.

Cette chanson ? Je l'ai entendue à la radio.

That song? I heard it on the radio.

No preposition → le, la, les.

Does the Verb Reach It Through À?

If the noun would need à in front of it, the pronoun is an indirect object: lui in the singular, leur in the plural, both genderless and both without agreement.

Ses parents ? Il leur téléphone le dimanche.

His parents? He phones them on Sundays.

à + person → lui, leur.

Does It Point Back at the Subject?

If the object is the same person as the subject, or if two subjects are acting on each other, use the reflexive series. In the third person that means se, whatever the gender or number.

Ils se regardent sans rien dire.

They look at each other without saying anything.

Subject = object → se.

Is It Standing on Its Own?

If the pronoun follows a preposition, closes a comparison, answers a question by itself or carries emphasis, it needs the stressed series. This is the only series that can appear without a verb anywhere near it.

Sans eux, nous n'y serions jamais arrivés.

Without them, we'd never have managed it.

No verb to lean on → stressed.

Common Mistakes with Personal Pronouns

Incorrect: Il parle avec je. — He's talking to me.

Correct: Il parle avec moi. — He's talking to me.

Subject pronouns cannot follow a preposition. Any preposition forces the stressed series, so je becomes moi, tu becomes toi and ils becomes eux.

Incorrect: Je lui vois tous les jours. — I see him every day.

Correct: Je le vois tous les jours. — I see him every day.

Voir takes a direct object, so it needs le from the direct column, not lui from the indirect one. English him gives no clue, which is why the two columns have to be kept apart deliberately.

Incorrect: Elle lave se les mains. — She's washing her hands.

Correct: Elle se lave les mains. — She's washing her hands.

The reflexive pronoun belongs in front of the verb along with every other object pronoun. It never sits between the verb and its object.

Incorrect: Pour ils, c'est trop tard. — For them, it's too late.

Correct: Pour eux, c'est trop tard. — For them, it's too late.

Ils exists only as a subject. Its stressed counterpart is eux, which is the form required after every preposition and in every comparison.

The Forms That Appear in More Than One Column

Three sources of genuine ambiguity, and the structural clues that resolve each one.

Lui in two different columns

Lui is both the indirect object for either gender and the stressed pronoun for a man. Its position decides which: before the verb it's the object, after a preposition it's stressed.

Je lui ai répondu.: I answered him — or her.
Je suis parti avec lui.: I left with him.
C'est lui qui a insisté.: He's the one who insisted.
Elle lui ressemble.: She looks like him — or her.

The same trap exists with elle, which serves as subject, as stressed pronoun and as the feminine object of a preposition.

Nous and vous filling every slot

These two forms are identical across all five series, so a single sentence can contain them twice in different roles without anything changing shape.

Nous nous voyons demain.: We're seeing each other tomorrow.
Vous vous êtes trompés.: You made a mistake.
Nous vous attendons.: We're waiting for you.
Vous partez avec nous ?: Are you leaving with us?

When the same word appears twice, the first is the subject and the second is the object or reflexive. Both are compulsory.

Ils and elles have no stressed form of their own

The third-person plural changes shape completely when stressed: ils becomes eux, and only elles stays the same. This asymmetry catches out people who assume the subject form works everywhere.

Ils sont partis sans nous.: They left without us.
Je pars avec eux.: I'm leaving with them.
Eux aussi ont été surpris.: They were surprised too.
Elles sont venues avec elles.: They came with them. (both groups feminine)

Avec ils and pour ils simply don't exist. If a masculine plural pronoun stands after a preposition, it is always eux.

Personal Pronouns FAQs

What are the personal pronouns in French?: There are five series. Subject: je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles. Direct object: me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les. Indirect object: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur. Reflexive: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. Stressed: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles.
How do I know which series to use?: By the grammatical job. Doing the verb: subject. Acted on with no preposition: direct object. Reached through à: indirect object. Identical to the subject: reflexive. Alone, emphatic or after a preposition: stressed. Meaning has nothing to do with it.
Why does French have so many forms for one pronoun?: Because unstressed and stressed pronouns developed differently. The unstressed forms fused onto the verb over centuries and shrank, giving me, te, le and lui, while the stressed forms kept their weight and became moi, toi and eux. That's why the two sets look so unlike each other.
What's the difference between moi and me?: Me is unstressed and attaches to a verb: il me voit. Moi is stressed and appears alone, after a preposition, in a comparison or after a positive command: avec moi, plus que moi, regarde-moi. They translate the same English word but never swap places.
Which French pronouns don't change form at all?: Nous and vous, which fill every slot with the same word. Elle also stays elle in the subject and stressed columns, and elles in the plural. Everything else changes shape depending on the role it's playing.