French Disjunctive Pronouns
See also: Pronom and Pronoun Types
Disjunctive pronouns (also called stress or stressed pronouns; in French also called pronoms disjoints), are used to highlight the person they refer to.
For example:
Moi, j'aime le chocolat. - Me, I like chocolate.
The stress pronoun highlights the subject pronoun 'I'.
| Pronoms disjonctifs | Stress pronouns |
| moi | me |
| toi | you (singular / informal) |
| lui | him |
| elle | her |
| soi | oneself |
| nous | us |
| vous | you (plural / formal) |
| eux | them (male or mixed) |
| elles | them (all female) |
Stress pronouns give emphasis to the person they refer to. In these cases, they double up with a subject or object pronoun:
Moi, je n'aime pas courir. - Me, I don't like running.
Lui, je le déteste ! - Him, I hate him!
They are often used after prepositions:
C'est pour moi. - It's for me.
Je suis avec elle. - I'm with her.
Vous pensez à nous. - You think of us.
Il faut prendre soin de soi. - One must take care of oneself.
And after c'est:
C'est toi ! - It's you!
Le voleur, c'est lui ! - He's the thief!
Stressed pronouns can stand alone, or be used in non-verbal constructions:
Qui a mangé mon sandwich? Lui ! - Who ate my sandwich? Him!
Non, pas eux ! - No, not them!
And they can be used with même to express 'oneself'
Je l'ai fait moi-même ! - I did it myself!
Note: Stress pronouns can only replace people. For objects, you must use a demonstrative pronoun.
