SUBJECT PRONOUNS AND THE VERB ÊTRE
PROFESSOR Voilà! I found it! This book is all about subject pronouns and the verb être. Let’s talk about that!
PROFESSOR The subject of a verb is the person or thing that carries out the action. The verb expresses the
action itself. Watch this:
PROFESSOR Le professeur parle français. In this sentence, le professeur is the subject, and parle is the verb.
PROFESSOR A subject pronoun replaces a noun that’s the subject of a verb.
PROFESSOR Il parle français.
PROFESSOR Easy, right? Here’s a list of all the subject pronouns.
NARRATOR je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles
PROFESSOR Subject pronouns show number, meaning singular versus plural, and gender, meaning
masculine versus feminine.
PROFESSOR When a subject consists of a mix of both males and females, use the masculine plural form of
the pronoun to refer to it.
NARRATOR Rémy et Marie dansent très bien. Ils dansent très bien.
NARRATOR Monsieur et Madame Diop sont de Dakar. Ils sont de Dakar.
PROFESSOR Let’s talk about tu and vous. They both mean “you”, but use tu for informal address and vous
for formal.
PROFESSOR Vous is also the plural form of “you”, both informal and formal.
NARRATOR Comment vas-tu? Comment allez-vous?
NARRATOR Comment t’appelles-tu? Comment vous appelez-vous?
PROFESSOR The subject pronoun on refers to people in general, just as the English subject pronouns one,
they, or you sometimes do.
PROFESSOR On can also mean we in casual conversation. It always takes the same verb form as il and elle.
NARRATOR En France, on parle français.
NARRATOR On est au café.
PROFESSOR On essaie? Now it’s your turn to practice.
PROFESSOR I’ll read you a sentence, and you say out loud the subject pronoun that you hear. Ready?
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Grammar Tutorial Scripts
PROFESSOR Elle s’appelle Caroline. The pronoun is ‘Elle’. Nous dansons. Nous. Vous êtes de Paris. Vous.
Comment vas-tu? Tu. Je parle français. Je.
PROFESSOR Now, you’re ready to learn the verb être. It’s irregular, which means that its conjugation does
not follow a predictable pattern.
PROFESSOR The form être itself is called the infinitive. That just means that it doesn’t correspond to any
subject in particular. Here are the singular forms of être.
NARRATOR je suis, tu es, il est, elle est, on est
PROFESSOR And here are the plural forms.
NARRATOR nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont, elles sont
PROFESSOR Note that the s at the end of the vous is pronounced as an English “z” in the phrase vous
êtes. Listen...
PROFESSOR Vous êtes à Paris. Vous êtes M. Leclerc?
PROFESSOR On essaie? Now it’s your turn to practice.
PROFESSOR You did great!
PROFESSOR Upward and onward! Use c’est or its plural form, ce sont, followed by a noun to identify who or
what someone or something is. Remember to use an article before the noun.
PROFESSOR C’est un téléphone. Ce sont des photos.
PROFESSOR When the expressions c’est and ce sont are followed by proper names, don’t use an article
before the names.
PROFESSOR C’est Élodie. Ce sont Élodie et Anne.
PROFESSOR Also use il est, elle est and ils sont, elles sont, to refer to someone or something that was
previously mentioned.
NARRATOR La bibliothèque? Elle est moderne. Nathalie et Félix? Ils sont intelligents.
PROFESSOR We’re almost finished! il est, elle est and ils sont, elles sont are used to tell
someone’s profession.
PROFESSOR But Attention! Do not use an article before the name of the profession.
NARRATOR Voilà M. Richard. Il est acteur. Elles sont chanteuses.
PROFESSOR À vous! Now it’s your turn to practice what you’ve learned.
© by Vista Higher Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Grammar Tutorial Scripts