Subject Pronouns For Compound Subjects - Nous, Vous, Ils, Elles

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Using nous/vous/ils/elles to replace compound subjects (French Subject Pronouns)Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCELast updated: 2025-10-0820 questionsTake the fastest path to fluent FrenchJoin now for free!

In French, when you have several subjects for one verb, you can replace them with a subject pronoun.

Learn how to replace several subjects with a plural subject pronoun in French

Look at these sentences:

Jean et moi jouons aux cartes. Nous jouons aux cartes.Jean and I play cards.We play cards.

Sarah et ma soeur sont sympas.Elles sont sympas. Sarah and my sister are nice.They are nice.

M. Dupont et Mme Vichy se connaissent. Ils se connaissent.Mr Dupont and Mrs Vichy know each other.They know each other.

Sarah et toi êtes amis.Vous êtes amis.Sarah and you are friends.You are friends.

When you have more than one person in a sentence doing the action (verb), then you can replace them with a plural subject pronoun: nous, vous, ils ou elles.

Here are the different combinations:

person(s) + moi     =  nous 

person(s) + toi      =  vous

person(s) + person(s)   = ils (all male or mixed group) or  elles (all female group)

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

  • Pronom sujet
  • Pronom

Examples and resources

Sarah et toi êtes amis.Vous êtes amis.Sarah and you are friends.You are friends.Sarah et ma soeur sont sympas.Elles sont sympas. Sarah and my sister are nice.They are nice.Jean et moi jouons aux cartes. Nous jouons aux cartes.Jean and I play cards.We play cards.M. Dupont et Mme Vichy se connaissent. Ils se connaissent.Mr Dupont and Mrs Vichy know each other.They know each other. Kwizbot, a friendly bot I'll be right with you...

Tag » What Do Nous And Vous Mean