Impersonal French

Impersonal Expressions

Impersonal expressions are those which do not have a specific subject, as in Il est difficile à dire.

Impersonal Pronouns

These aren't as cold as they sound - impersonal simply means that these pronouns do not change according to grammatical person; however, some of them change to agree in gender and number with the noun that they replace.

Impersonal Verbs

Impersonal verbs have only one conjugation: the third person singular indefinite, or il. Some of these verbs also have personal versions with different meanings, so it's important to learn to recognize impersonal verbs.

Passive Impersonal

The passive impersonal is commonly used in place of the passive voice. In this construction, a non-reflexive verb is used reflexively in order to demonstrate the passive nature of the action, as in Ça se voit - That's obvious.