6 May 2000

1.1.7.1 Personal and Impersonal Pronouns, in L'Huillier, Advanced French Grammar


presentation of L'Huillier's work, by Corry Shores

[Subsection headings are my own]



Monique L'Huillier

Advanced French Grammar

1. Framework

1.1 Parts of Speech

1.1.7.1 Personal and Impersonal Pronouns


(i) Persons of Discourse


A personal pronoun refers the those people involved in the discourse.

1st person: the speaker, je, moi (me); nous
2nd person: the interlocutor: tu, toi (te); vous
3rd person: the being or thing that the speakers are talking about: il, ils, eux, elle, le, la, les


(ii)  Names


1st and 2nd person pronouns refer to or 'name' their speakers.
Ex,
Je pars en vacances la semaine prochaine. Et toi?


(iii) 3rd People


However, 3rd person pronouns usually refer-to or represent someone or something else previously mentioned in the discourse's context. 
Ex,
J'ai vu Pierre ce matin. Il était très content.
'Il' refers to 'Pierre' in the preceding sentence.


L'Huillier, Monique. Advanced French Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
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