French Impersonal Verbs

Verbes impersonnels

In order to understand French impersonal verbs, you first have to understand that they have nothing to do with personality. Impersonal simply indicates a part of speech which does not change according to grammatical person. Therefore, impersonal verbs have only one conjugation: the third person singular indefinite, or il, which in this case is equivalent to it in English.

Notes

1)	Many impersonal verbs also have personal versions with somewhat different meanings - these are noted in the last column for your reference.
2)	Click on the underlined verbs to see how they are conjugated in all the simple tenses.
*	Indicates that the verb is often followed by the subjunctive.

Impersonal			Personal
s'agir de - to be a question of, to have to do with			agir - to act, behave
	Il s'agit d'argent.	It has to do with money.
	Il s'agit de faire ce qu'on peut.	It's a question of doing what one can.
arriver - to happen, to be a possibility			arriver - to arrive
	Il est arrivé un accident.	There's been an accident.
	Il m'arrive de faire des erreurs.	I sometimes make mistakes.
convenir - to be advisable, to be agreed			convenir - to suit
	Il convient d'être prudent.	Caution is advised.
	Il est convenu que nous déciderons demain.	It is agreed that we will decide tomorrow.
faire - to be (with weather or temperature)			faire - to do, make
	Il fait du soleil.	It's sunny.
	Il faisait froid.	It was cold.
falloir* - to be necessary
	Il faut le faire.	It has to be done.
	Il faudra que je le fasse / Il me faudra le faire.	It will be necessary for me to do it / I will have to do it.
importer* - to matter, be important			importer - to import
	Il importe qu'elle vienne.	It's important that she come.
	Il importe de le faire.	It's important to do it.
neiger - to snow
	Il neige.	It's snowing.
	Il va neiger demain.	It's going to snow tomorrow.
se passer - to happen		passer - to pass, spend (time)
	Qu'est-ce qui se passe ?	What's happening?
	Ça s'est mal passé.	It went badly.
pleuvoir - to rain
	Il pleut.	It's raining.
	Il a plu hier.	It rained yesterday.
se pouvoir* - to be possible		pouvoir - can, to be able
	Il se peut qu'elles soient là.	They may be there / It's possible that they will be there.
	Se peut-il que Luc finisse ?	Is it possible that Luc will finish? / Could it be that Luc will finish?
sembler* - to seem			sembler - to seem
	Il semble qu'elle soit malade.	It seems that she is sick.
	Il (me) semble impossible.	It seems impossible (to me).
suffire* - to suffice, be enough			suffire - to suffice
	Il suffit que tu le fasses demain / Il te suffit de le faire demain.	It's enough if you do it tomorrow.
	Ça suffit !	That's enough!
tenir à - to depend on			tenir - to hold, keep
	Il ne tient qu'à toi de...	It's up to you to...
	Ça tient à peu de chose.	It can go either way (literally: it depends on little)
se trouver - to be, to happen to be			trouver - to find
	Il se trouve toujours des gens qui...	There are always people who...
	Il se trouve que c'est moi.	It happens to be me.
valoir mieux* - to be better			valoir - to be worth
	Il vaut mieux le faire toi-même. Il vaut mieux que tu le fasses.	It's better for you to do it (yourself).
venir - to come			venir - to come
	Il vient beaucoup de monde.	A lot of people are coming.
	Il vient un moment où...	There comes a time when...

    

More Impersonal French French Verb Conjugations Grammar Glossary

  

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