Usage of the Impersonal Pronoun Il
Rule 1: The impersonal pronoun il is used in French when an action has no agent, that is, when there is no person or animate being responsible for the action.
French
English
Il faut cinq heures pour aller de Toulouse à Paris en train.
It takes five hours to get from Toulouse to Paris by train.
Rule 2: The conjugated verb is always in the third person singular.
French
English
Il faut dormir la nuit.
One has to sleep at night.
Il y a deux livres sur la table.
There are two books on the table.
Il se peut que je sois en retard.
It is possible that I will be late.
French Weather Verbs
Rule 3: The impersonal pronoun il is mostly used with the French weather verbs. Here they are:
| verb | example | translation |
|---|---|---|
| faire | Il fait beau. | It's nice outside / the weather is nice. |
| geler | Il gèle. | It's freezing. |
| neiger | Il neige. | It's snowing. |
| pleuvoir | Il pleut. | It's raining. |
| verb | example | translation |
|---|---|---|
| faire | Il fait beau. | It's nice outside / the weather is nice. |
| geler | Il gèle. | It's freezing. |
| neiger | Il neige. | It's snowing. |
| pleuvoir | Il pleut. | It's raining. |
And now that you know all that, let's see whether you can differentiate the personal pronoun il from the impersonal one.
Quiz
1/4
Il y a 30 filles dans notre classe.
0
correct answers.