Forms   Differences   Exercises

Person

Forms

In French and many other languages, verb forms change to indicate not only Tense and Mood but also what is known as person. We talk about a verb being in the first, second or third person, singular or plural. 

The first person singular is the form used when the Subject is the person speaking, represented by the pronoun I in English, and Je in French:     

 Je suis  

I am

Je crois 

I believe

The first person plural is the form used when the subject includes the person speaking, represented by we or nous:  

 Nous refusons 

We refuse

Nous voulons 

We want

Second person forms are used when the subject is the person or persons spoken to, you in English and either tu or vous in French: 

 Tu es ici

You are here

Vous êtes tous les bienvenus

You are all welcome

Third persons are used when the subject is a third party or a thing. This can be represented by a pronoun, he, she or it in English, il, elle or on in French, but it is often a noun: 

  Elle est partie

She left

Le chat est revenu

The cat came back

Compare English and French forms for the present tense of a common verb: 

 Je vais

I go

Nous allons

We  go

Tu vas

You go

Vous allez

You go

Il va

He goes

Ils vont

They go

You will notice that the English verb only has two different forms for the verb: go and goes. French has six different forms: vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont. 

Differences

Exercises