Indefinite Pronouns: on, quelqu'un, personne, quelque chose, rien
Indefinite Pronouns: on, quelqu'un, personne, quelque chose, rien
These small words cover 'someone/no one' and 'something/nothing' — and one of them, on, is so common in everyday spoken French that it quietly replaces nous in casual conversation, a bit like how English 'you' can informally mean 'people in general' ('you never know').
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
on as the everyday substitute for nous
On mange. (We're eating — same meaning as Nous mangeons, but conjugated like il/elle)
We're eating.
In spoken French, on very often replaces nous. Grammatically it behaves as a third-person singular subject (on mange, not on mangeons), even though it means 'we'. on can also mean the impersonal 'one' or 'people in general' (on dit que... = 'they say that...'), similar to English's impersonal 'you' or 'they' in 'they say it's going to rain'. Expect to hear on constantly in conversation even though textbooks lean on nous.
personne and rien need ne, just like pas
Je ne vois personne. (I don't see anyone.) / Je ne comprends rien. (I understand nothing.)
I don't see anyone. / I understand nothing.
personne ('no one') and rien ('nothing') slot into the same ne...X negation frame you learned with ne...pas — they simply replace pas. Unlike pas, they can also stand as the subject of a sentence: Personne n'est venu. ('No one came.') English negative pronouns (no one, nothing) don't need a second negating word alongside them the way French does — pairing personne/rien with ne is a genuinely French double-marking habit, not just a translation of the English word.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| on | ohn | we (informal) / one / people |
| quelqu'un | kel-kuhn | someone |
| ne...personne | nuh... pair-SUN | no one |
| quelque chose | kel-kuh SHOHZ | something |
| ne...rien | nuh... ree-AHN | nothing |
| tout le monde | too luh MOHND | everyone |
| chacun / chacune | shah-KUHN / shah-KEWN | each one |
| quelqu'un d'autre | kel-kuhn DOH-truh | someone else |
| quelque chose d'autre | kel-kuh shohz DOH-truh | something else |
| ne...nulle part | nuh... newl PAR | nowhere |