French indefinite pronouns are words used to refer to things and people in a vague or imprecise way. Some indefinite pronouns are the same as the indefinite adjectives in French, but they work differently. While indefinite adjectives introduce nouns, indefinite pronouns replace a noun.
You use indefinite pronouns for several reasons in a couple of different contexts. For example, let’s say you want to be mysterious (or you just don’t know more details), you might say something like:
Or, maybe you are talking about the nationality of students in your French class. You don’t know exactly how many students there are. You could say:
In this sentence, however, the pronouns refer to an approximate quantity of students. They also agree in gender or number with the noun they replace (étudiants), unlike the invariable pronouns quelque chose meaning something or quelqu’un meaning someone.
In this post, we’ll review the French indefinite pronouns used to talk about people, those used to talk about things, and the pronouns used to discuss approximate quantities of both people and things.
Which indefinite pronouns refer to people in French?
There are certain indefinite pronouns in French that can only be used to talk about people: quelqu’un meaning someone, personne meaning no one, n’importe qui meaning whoever, on meaning one, and tout le monde meaning everybody. These indefinite pronouns are invariable and are used to replace nouns that refer to people when:
you are unsure exactly who you are talking about
you prefer to hide the identity of a person (to be intentionally vague)
you are making a generalization
Unlike indefinite pronouns expressing quantities in French, the following indefinite pronouns do not require an antecedent (a noun (person) that has been previously mentioned). Let’s get started with quelqu’un meaning someone.
How to use ‘quelqu’un’ in French?
Quelqu’un meaning someone can be used as both a subject and an object. It is neutral, which in French means it will always be masculine, singular!
Furthermore, this indefinite pronoun can be used on its own as an answer to the question Qui meaning Who.
- Qui a fait la vaisselle ?Translation: Who did the dishes?
- Quelqu’un dans la famille, mais je ne sais pas qui.Translation: Someone in the family, but I don’t know who.
How to use ‘personne’ in French?
Personne meaning no one is the French negative form of quelqu’un. It is used with ne but not pas. Just like quelqu’un, it can be used as both a subject and an object and is masculine singular. Personne can be used on its own:
- Qui a appelé ?Translation: Who called?
- Personne ! (= Personne n’a appelé !)Translation: No one!
Or in a sentence:
How to use ‘n’importe qui’ in French?
N’importe qui meaning anyone, whoever is a French indefinite pronoun that works the same way as quelqu’un. However, it does tend to have a more negative connotation, so be careful how you use it! Literally, n’importe qui translates as “it doesn’t matter who.” So, when you say n’importe qui, you are expressing the idea of “just anyone.” Take a look at the example below:
→ used as a subject
How to generalize with ‘on’ and ‘tout le monde’ in French?
The indefinite pronouns on meaning one and tout le monde meaning everybody are used to make generalizations in French by referring to all people in general.
In French, on is used like the word "one" is in English sentences like "one does not insult the queen!" But on doesn't sound nearly as stuffy in French! Instead, it refers to people in general. The French possessive adjective that we use to refer back to on is the same as for iland elle and its stressed pronoun is soi.
Tout le monde meaning everybody does not refer to the entire world but to people in general. (If you wanted to talk about the whole world, you’d say le monde entier. Tout le monde works just like on and is the opposite of personne meaning no one.
Which indefinite pronouns are used to talk about things in French?
The indefinite pronouns in French used to talk only about things are similar to the pronouns used to talk about people: quelque chose meaning something, rien meaning nothing, n’importe quoi meaning anything, whatever, and tout meaning everything. Like the indefinite pronouns for people, these pronouns are also invariable, meaning they are always masculine and singular and do not require the object they reference to have been previously mentioned.
How to use ‘quelque chose’ in French?
Quelque chose meaning something, like quelqu’un, can also be used as a subject or object.
Quelque chose can also be used as an answer to the question using the French interrogative pronoun Quoi? meaning What?.
- Qu’est-ce que tu écris ?Translation: What are you writing?
- Quelque chose. (= J’écris quelque chose.)Translation: Something. (= I am writing something.)
How to use ‘rien’ in French?
Rien meaning nothing is the negative form of quelque chose meaning something. Like personne, rien is used with ne but not pas. Rien can also be used as a subject or an object, and it is always masculine singular.
Like quelque chose, rien can be used on its own in response to a question:
- Qu’est-ce que vous avez vu la nuit dernière ?Translation: What did you see last night?
- Rien. (= Je n’ai rien vu.)Translation: Nothing. (I saw nothing.)
How to use ‘n’importe quoi’ in French?
The original meaning of n’importe quoi is “anything,” but it tends to sound negative and expresses the idea of “nonsense.” Literally, n’importe quoi means “it does not matter what.” Grammatically, it works exactly like quelque chose.
→ used as an object
→ used on its own
How to generalize using ‘tout’ in French?
Tout refers to things in general. It can also stand for “it all,” or it can be translated as “everything.” It is different from the plural indefinite pronouns tous, toutes which stand for “all of them,” referring to a specific group of things or people that have been previously mentioned. Tout is singular, so when tout is the subject, the verb is conjugated in the third person singular. Adjectives describing tout are, similarly, singular masculine. Just like the opposite of tout le monde is personne, the opposite of tout is rien.
We have covered the basics for invariable French indefinite pronouns describing people and things. Let’s now take a look at the indefinite pronouns you can use to talk about unspecified quantities of people and things.
Which indefinite pronouns refer to quantities of people and things in French?
Indefinite pronouns, such as l’un(e), chacun(e), aucun(e), tous, and toutes, express quantities of people or things — either as subjects or objects. They either replace a noun that was previously mentioned (the antecedent) or describe something or someone implied in the context.
Some indefinite pronouns used for quantities do not agree with the gender of the antecedent, like plusieurs meaning several, but others will agree, like l’un(e) meaning one or certain(e)s meaning certain ones. Here is a list of the most common indefinite pronouns replacing people/things:
| Indefinite pronouns that agree with the gender of the antecedent | |
|---|---|
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| Indefinite pronouns that agree with the gender of the antecedent |
|---|
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The indefinite pronouns in the left column of the table above are either singular or plural. Which one you use will depend on whether you want to talk about one person or thing among a group you’ve already mentioned or several people or things. Let’s first start with the singular pronouns.
Singular indefinite pronouns
The singular indefinite pronouns are l’un(e), l’autre meaning one, the other , chacun(e) meaning each, and aucun(e) meaning no, not any. All of these indefinite pronouns (aside from l’autre, which has the same form in masculine and feminine) will agree in gender with their antecedent and all of them are conjugated in the third person singular.
third-person singularElle a deux sœurs, l’une est extravertie, l’autre est réservée. Chacune a un chat.Translation: She has two sisters, one is an extrovert, the other is shy. Each one has a cat.Most indefinite pronouns express positive quantities. However, aucun(e) meaning not any, none of them expresses a negative quantity and calls for the negation particle ne but not pas .
Les étudiants sont tous là, aucun n’estpasarrivé en retard aujourd’hui !Translation: All the students are here, none were late today!If you want to mention only one element of a group, you can use a singular indefinite pronoun + d’entre meaning among + stressed pronoun.
Les jumeaux vont venir. L’un d’entre eux sera en retard.Translation: The twins are going to come. One of them will be late.But if you want to highlight every single element of a group, you can use chacun(e) d’entre meaning each of them + stressed pronoun.
Les photos sont dans l’album. Chacune d’entre elles est datée.Translation: The photos are in the album. Each of them is dated.Plural indefinite pronouns
Most indefinite pronouns are plural. In the table above, we see that les un(e)s meaning some, others, quelques-un(e)s meaning some, a few, certain(e)s meaning certain ones , and tou(te)s meaning all of them have different forms depending on whether the noun they are replacing is masculine or feminine.
Les filles jouent dans la parque. Quelques-unes jouent au cache-cache, et les autres passent le ballon.Translation: The girls play in the park. Some of them play hide and seek and the others pass the ball.In the example above, the indefinite pronoun quelque-unes agrees in number and gender with les filles, and les autres agrees in number (the form is the same in gender for masculine and feminine nouns).
However, there are also many indefinite pronouns that replace plural nouns and are invariable (see the right column in the table of pronouns). This means that though their antecedent must always be plural, the form of the indefinite pronoun does not change to match the antecedent’s gender.
Les biscuits sur la table sont parfaits. Mais peu ont été mangés.Translation: The cookies on the table are perfect. But few have been eaten.Regardless of whether the plural indefinite pronouns are invariable or agree with the noun they replace, all the plural indefinite pronouns are followed by a verb conjugated in the third person plural when used as a subject.
But what about when the indefinite pronouns are objects?
One last point before we wrap up! Tou(te)s meaning all of them, like the singular pronoun chacun(e), can be at the beginning of a sentence or placed after the first conjugated verb when used with a subject pronoun.
There you have it! Let’s recap what we’ve learned!
In brief: what you need to remember about indefinite pronouns
When using indefinite pronouns in French, keep the following points in mind:
Quelqu’un meaning someone, quelque chose meaning something, and their negative forms personne meaning no one and rien meaning nothing stand for people and things we don’t know or prefer not to identify. The conjugation and agreement are masculine singular.
Remember the form quelqu’un, quelque chose, rien + de + adjective (masculine/singular).
To talk about generalities, on = “people,” tout le monde = “everybody,” tout = “everything.” Their conjugation and agreement are also masculine singular.
To replace previously mentioned nouns and talk about quantities, indefinite pronouns like quelques-un(e)s meaning some and certain(e)s meaning certain ones agree in gender and number with their antecedents.
When used as an object with en, indefinite pronouns go at the end of the sentence.
Now how about some practice with our activities on the French indefinite pronouns?
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