Pronouns & Determiners in French

What are pronouns and determiners?

Pronouns (pronoms) are grammatical words that replace a noun or a nominal group in a sentence. There are different types of pronouns: personal pronouns (including subject, stressed, object, and reflexive pronouns), relative pronouns, adverbial pronouns, possessive pronouns, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and indefinite pronouns.

Example:
Je mange une glace. (personal pronoun)I’m eating an ice cream.
Tu en parles souvent. (adverbial pronoun)You often talk about it.
Cette veste est la tienne. (possessive pronoun)This jacket is yours.

Determiners (déterminants) are words that introduce a noun and clarify its meaning (gender, number, possession, quantity, etc.). There are many categories of determiners. Here, we will focus on possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite determiners.

Example:
C’est mon ordinateur. (possessive determiner)This is my computer.
Quel est ton film préféré ? (interrogative determiner)What is your favourite movie?
Nous adorons ce restaurant. (demonstrative determiner)We love this restaurant.

The fundamental difference between a pronoun and a determiner is that a pronoun replaces a noun (or a nominal group), whereas a determiner accompanies it.

Example:
– Quel jouet veux-tu ? – Je veux celui-là.– Which toy do you want? – I want that one.
the determiner quel accompanies the noun jouet, while the pronoun celui-là replaces it

Below, you will find a brief explanation of each type of pronoun and determiner, along with many exercises to help you tell them apart. You will also find links to the articles dedicated to each pronoun and determiner, each with its own set of exercises.

Contents

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns (pronoms personnels) are used to refer to people (including oneself) or to replace a noun or a group of words that has already been mentioned. The form of a personal pronoun changes depending on its function in the sentence. We distinguish between subject pronouns (je, tu, il, …), stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui, …), and object pronouns (me, te, le, lui, …).

Example:
Eric chante une chanson à Sophie. → Il lui chante une chanson.Éric sings a song to Sophie. → He sings her a song.
il = subject personal pronoun replacing Eric
lui = stressed personal pronoun replacing Sophie

Find out when and how to use each personal pronoun in our article, which includes exercises.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns (pronoms réfléchis) are a subcategory of personal pronouns and take forms such as me, te, se, etc. They are used with pronominal verbs and always refer back to the subject. In addition, there are disjunctive forms (moi, toi, soi, …) which are used in specific cases.

Example:
Je me réveille tous les jours à 7 heures.I wake up every day at 7 am
pronominal verb se réveiller in the present tense
Assieds-toi !Sit down!
pronominal verb s’asseoir in the imperative

Learn more about reflexive pronouns in our article, which includes practice exercises.

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns (pronoms relatifs) introduce a relative clause (proposition subordonnée relative) by replacing a noun or a pronoun.

But what exactly is a relative clause?
A clause is a group of words built around a conjugated verb. When a sentence is complex, it contains several clauses. When one clause depends on another and cannot stand on its own, it is called a subordinate clause. If a subordinate clause is relative, its role in the sentence is to provide additional information about a noun or a pronoun.

Example:
Le gâteau que j’ai laissé sur la table a mystérieusement disparu.The cake I left on the table has mysteriously disappeared.
“que” is the relative pronoun
“que j’ai laissé sur la table” is the relative clause

You will find all the essential information, along with numerous exercises, in our article on relative pronouns.

Adverbial pronouns

There are two adverbial pronouns (pronoms adverbiaux) in French: en and y. They are adverbs used as pronouns, and their role is to replace a noun or a nominal group.

Example:
Tu parles de tes vacances. → Tu en parles.You’re talking about your holidays. → You’re talking about them.
Michel va en Thaïlande. → Michel y va.Michel is going to Thailand. → Michel is going there.

Learn which adverbial pronoun to use and how to place it correctly in a sentence in our article, which includes practice exercises.

Possessive pronouns and determiners

A possessive determiner (déterminant possessif), also called a possessive adjective, is a word that accompanies a noun to indicate who that noun belongs to (monmy (m.), mamy (f.), mesmy (pl.), tonyour (m.), tayour (f.), tesyour (pl.), etc.).

Example:
C’est ma maison.This is my house.
Blue est notre chien.Blue is our dog.
Voici leurs devoirs.Here are their homework assignments.

A possessive pronoun (pronom possessif) is a word that replaces a noun preceded by a possessive determiner. It indicates who the noun belongs to without repeating it (le mienmine (m.), la miennemine (f.), les miensmine (pl.), le tienyours (m.), la tienneyours (f.), etc.).

Example:
C’est ma maison. → C’est la mienne.This is my house. → This is mine.
Blue est notre chien. → C’est le nôtre.Blue is our dog. → He is ours.
Voici leurs devoirs. → Ce sont les leurs.Here are their homework assignments. → These are theirs.

You will find everything you need to know about possessive pronouns and determiners in our article, which includes exercises.

Interrogative pronouns and determiners

An interrogative determiner (déterminant interrogatif) is a word that accompanies a noun in order to ask a question about that noun. These are the determiners quelwhich (m.), quellewhich (f.), quelswhich (m. pl.), and quelleswhich (f. pl).

Example:
Quelle robe préfères-tu ?Which dress do you prefer?
Quel film allons-nous voir ce soir ?Which movie are we going to see tonight?
Quels livres avez-vous lus ?Which books have you read?

An interrogative pronoun (pronom interrogatif) is a word that replaces a noun (or a nominal group) in a question, without repeating the noun. These include lequelwhich one (m.), laquellewhich one (f.), lesquelswhich ones (m. pl.), lesquelleswhich ones (f. pl.), quiwho, quewhat, quoiwhat, etc.

Example:
Quelle robe préfères-tu ? → Laquelle préfères-tu ?Which dress do you prefer? → Which one do you prefer?
Quel film allons-nous voir ce soir ? → Lequel allons-nous voir ?Which movie are we going to see tonight? → Which one are we going to see?
Quels livres avez-vous lus ? → Lesquels avez-vous lus ?Which books have you read? → Which ones have you read?

Feel free to check out our article on interrogative pronouns and determiners, which includes exercises at the bottom of the page.

Demonstrative pronouns and determiners

A demonstrative determiner (déterminant démonstratif) is a word that accompanies a noun in order to point out or specify exactly what we are talking about. These are cethis (m.), cetthis (m.), cettethis (f.), and cesthis (pl.).

Example:
J’aime cette chanson.I love this song.
Il lit ce livre.He is reading this book.
Regarde ces étoiles !Look at those stars!

A demonstrative pronoun (pronom démonstratif) is a word that replaces a noun preceded by a demonstrative determiner, to avoid repeating the noun. These pronouns include çathis, cecithis, celathat, celui-cithis one (m.), celle-cithis one (f.), ceux-cithese ones (m. pl.), celles-cithese ones (f. pl.), etc.

Example:
J’aime cette chanson. → J’aime celle-ci.I love this song. → I love this one.
Il lit ce livre. → Il lit celui-ci.He is reading this book. → He is reading this one.
Regarde ces étoiles ! → Regarde celles-là.Look at those stars! → Look at those ones.

You will find everything you need to know about demonstrative pronouns and determiners in our article, which includes practice exercises.

Indefinite pronouns and determiners

An indefinite determiner (déterminant indéfini) is a word that accompanies a noun to express a vague or general idea. Examples include chaqueevery, certainssome, quelquessome, aucunno, toutall, every, and plusieurssome.

Example:
J’ai lu chaque livre de la bibliothèque.I have read every book in the library.
Il a invité certains amis.He invited some friends.
Nous avons mangé tous les gâteaux.We ate all the cakes.

An indefinite pronoun (pronom indéfini) is a word that replaces a noun preceded by an indefinite determiner, in order to avoid repeating the noun. Examples include aucunnone, quelqu’unsomeone, certainssome, tousall, plusieurssome, chacuneveryone, etc.

Example:
Il y avait quelques erreurs dans le texte. → Il y en avait quelques-unes.There were some mistakes in the text. → There were a few of them.
Il a invité certains amis. → Il en a invité certains.He invited some friends. → He invited some of them.
Nous avons mangé tous les gâteaux. → Nous les avons tous mangés.We ate all the cakes. → We ate them all.

Here again, the difference between pronouns and determiners is that a determiner accompanies a noun, whereas a pronoun replaces it.

Example:
Je vois tous les villages depuis la montagne.I can see all the villages from the mountain.
tous = indefinite determiner, accompanying the noun les villages without specifying which ones
Je vois tout depuis la montagne.I can see everything from the mountain.
tout = indefinite pronoun, a vague notion meaning that many things are visible

You will find everything you need to know about indefinite pronouns and determiners in our article, which includes practice exercises.

Learn more about pronouns and determiners

You’ll find here the links to each article, along with a variety of practice exercises: