Moi, toi, lui, elle = me, you, him, her (stress pronouns)

2021-05-06

Just like in English we have 'I' and 'me' (but note, only 'you'), French uses these so-called singular Stress Pronouns.

Subject Pronoun	Stress Pronoun
je I	moi me
tu you	toi you
il he	lui him
elle she	elle her

Note : elle is the same in both.

Simple uses of Stress pronouns

- extra emphasis

Moi, je m'appelle Tim.Me, my name is Tim.

Je veux une glace au chocolat mais elle, elle veut une glace à la vanille.I want a chocolate ice cream but she wants a vanilla ice cream.

Et toi, comment tu vas ?And you, how are you?

Note that in English, you would usually use intonation to mark emphasis.

- single word responses

Qui veut un cadeau ? Moi! Moi!Who wants a present? - Me! - Me!

Lui ? Vraiment ?Him? Really?

Qui est ta copine ? - Elle.Who is your girlfriend? - She is.

- very simple sentences

Toi aussi!You too!

Non, pas elle! No, not her!

C'est lui! It's him!

See also the plural stress pronouns: Nous, vous, eux, elles = us, you, them (stress pronouns)
and the more advanced lesson Moi, toi, lui, elle, soi, nous, vous, eux, elles (advanced stress pronouns)

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Pronom disjonctif

Examples and resources