French Indefinite Pronouns
Pronoms indéfinis
French indefinite pronouns, sometimes called affirmative indefinite pronouns, are unspecific and are used in place of nouns. They can be the subject of a sentence, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.
| Tout le monde est ici. | Everyone is here. |
| Il a acheté quelque chose. | He bought something. |
| J'ai un cadeau pour quelqu'un. | I have a gift for someone. |
The French indefinite pronouns are
| Notes | ||
| un(e) autre | another one | 1, 2 |
| d'autres | others | 1, 2 |
| certain(e)s | certain ones | 1, 2 |
| chacun(e) | each one | 1, 3, 4 |
| on | one | 5 |
| plusieurs | several | 1, 2, 3 |
| quelque chose | something | 4, 6 |
| quelqu'un | someone | 4, 6 |
| quelques-uns | some, a few | 1, 2, 3 |
| quiconque | anyone | 4 |
| soi | oneself | 7 |
| tel | one, someone | |
| tout | everything | 4 |
| tout le monde | everyone | 4 |
| un, l'un | one | 3 |
Notes:
| 1 | These pronouns must always have an antecedent. | |
| J'ai perdu mon stylo, donc j'ai dû acheter un autre. | I lost my pen, so I had to buy another one. | |
| Tu vois les chocolats ? Oui, je veux goûter chacun. | Do you see the chocolates? Yes, I want to taste each one. | |
| 2 | These pronouns express a quantity, so they must be preceded by the pronoun en when they are the object of the verb and the noun is dropped. | |
| J'ai vu plusieurs films => J'en ai vu plusieurs. | I saw several films => I saw several of them. | |
| Tu as les valises ? J'en ai quelques-unes. | Do you have the suitcases? I have some of them. | |
| 3 | These pronouns can be modified with d'entre + eux, elles, nous, or vous, or with de + noun but still take the third person conjugation (learn more). | |
| Quelques-uns d'entre vous sont prêts. | Some of you are ready. | |
| Plusieurs de vos étudiants sont ici. | Several of your students are here. | |
| 4 | These pronouns always take the third person singular form of the verb. | |
| Tout va bien ? | Is everything ok? | |
| Chacun d'entre vous doit venir. | Each (one) of you has to come. | |
| 5 | On is the indefinite subject pronoun. | |
| 6 | When followed by a modifier (like an adjective), the preposition de must be used between the pronoun and the modifier. | |
| J'ai quelque chose d'intéressant à vous dire. | I have something interesting to tell you. | |
| Il y a quelqu'un de bizarre dans votre bureau. | There is someone strange in your office. | |
| 7 | Soi is the indefinite stressed pronoun. | |
| Test on indefinite pronouns
Indefinite adjectives Indefinite demonstrative pronouns |
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