Look at these examples:
Jean et moi sommes allés au cinéma
Jean and I went to the cinema
Marie a invité Jean et moi au mariage
Marie invited Jean and me to the wedding
Marie et lui vont venir me voir.
Marie and he are going to come and see me.
Ma femme et toi êtes meilleures amies.
My wife and you are best friends.
Hugo et eux ne s'entendent pas.
Hugo and they don't get along.
Toi et moi sommes plus que des amis.
You and I are more than friends.
You won't use subject pronouns (je/tu/il/elle/nous/vous/ils/elles) nor object pronouns (me/te/le/la/l'/nous/vous/les).
Note: In English we use subject pronouns (John and I went to the cinema) or object pronouns (Mary invited John and me to the wedding) accordingly.
French uses the same set of stress pronouns instead.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Hugo et eux ne s'entendent pas.
Hugo and they don't get along.
Jean et moi sommes allés au cinéma
Jean and I went to the cinema
Ma fille et elles jouent ensemble.
My daughter and they play together.
Ma femme et toi êtes meilleures amies.
My wife and you are best friends.
Toi et moi sommes plus que des amis.
You and I are more than friends.
Marie et lui vont venir me voir.
Marie and he are going to come and see me.
Marie a invité Jean et moi au mariage
Marie invited Jean and me to the wedding
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
26/03/18
John
Kwiziq community member
27/03/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
27/03/18
Hi John,
Indeed, "John and me" is incorrect English, even though frequently heard in colloquial English. However, there does exist in English a kind of parallel to the French stress pronouns. Here is what I mean:
"Hey, you!" - "Who, me?" -- In this case "who, I" would be unnatural. In this case "I" is replaced by "me" which functions as a kind of stress pronoun for "I". This works for other persons as well:
I -- me
you -- you
he/she/it -- him/her/it
we -- us
you -- you
they -- them
It's curious, but in English the use of the stress pronouns also seems to depend on the position within the sentence:
"My brother and I are going out." -- correct.
"My brother and me are going out." -- incorrect.
"Me and my brother are going out." -- correct.
"I and my brother are going out." -- incorrect (or at least awkward).
So your question has more to do with English than with French.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Chris
Kwiziq community member
5/03/18
Hi Shruti,
you need the stress pronoun "lui" here. Even in English you would say: "Marie and HIM" which is the English version of a stress pronoun.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
5/03/18
Bonjour Shruti !
While in English, you could nowadays use colloquially either he or him in subject groups, in French, you can only use the stress pronoun lui.
See our related lesson:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/how-disjunctive-stress-pronouns-are-used-in-both-compound-subjects-and-objects-unlike-english
Bonne journée !
Chris
Kwiziq community member
5/03/18
Hi Shruti,
again, this is a case of stress pronouns. "Toi" is the stress pronoun for "tu" and "elle" is the same as personal and stress pronoun.
You and her -- Toi et elle
you and him -- Toi et lui
She and them -- Elle et eux
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
5/03/18
Bonjour Shruti !
Same case here as previously.
While in English, you could nowadays use colloquially either you/she or you/her in subject groups, in French, you can only use the stress pronouns toi/elle.
See our related lesson:
https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/how-disjunctive-stress-pronouns-are-used-in-both-compound-subjects-and-objects-unlike-english
Bonne journée !
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
13/11/17
Êtes is used when the subject is vous or a combination of words that equal vous: ma femme et toi (my wife and you = you) = vous.
Sommes is used when the subject is nous or a combination of words that equal nous: toi et moi (you and I = we) = nous.
You might like to reveiw this lesson: https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/my-languages/french/view/406
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
13/11/17
Stewart
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
29/04/17
Just as in English, this is a first person plural situation (e.g. You and I are)
Hope that helps.
CrystalMaiden
Kwiziq community member
21 April 2018
1 reply
In English: We use subject pronouns, really? Didn't know that.
My daughter and they play together.
I thought it was, " them, " not, " they, " in English. I'm confused. I'd use Hugo and them, never Hugo and they. Huh?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
21 April 2018
21/04/18
Yes, you are correct. That's as close as you can come to a stress pronoun in English.
My brother and me -- Mon frère et moi.
My brother and I (sounds a bit stilted) -- Mon frère and je (plain wrong).
-- Chris (not a native speaker).