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Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE
Last updated: 2024-12-04
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In this lesson, you'll see three cases in which stress pronouns (moi, toi, lui, elle, soi, nous, vous, eux, elles) are used in French. 

Learn how to use stress pronouns in French

In sentences, after prepositions (de, à, avec, derrière, pour etc)

Céline ne pense jamais à lui.Céline never thinks about him.

Nous parlions d'elle tout le temps.We used to talk about her all the time.

Je suis devant eux.I'm in front of them.

In comparisons, after que (plus/moins/aussi ....que),

Jean est plus grand que moi.Jean is taller than me.

Il mange moins de viande que vous.He eats less meat than you do.

Ma sœur chante aussi bien qu'elles.My sister sings as well as they do.

See also Plus ... que/Moins ... que/Aussi ... que = More ... than/Less ... than/As ... as (Comparisons with Adjectives in French)

With the restriction ne... que (only), after que.

Paulette n'aime que lui !Paulette loves only him!

Je ne veux que toi !I want only you!

Il ne manque qu'eux.They're the last ones.
[Lit. It's only missing them.]

 

Case of soi 

Soi is used to represent a universal "one[self]", in general statements or descriptions. It's the stress pronoun matching the general meaning of "on" (we/you/people) or the impersonal "il".

On ne doit pas penser qu'à soi.One mustn't think only of oneself.

Il faut toujours aider plus petit que soi.One must always help those smaller than oneself.

On n'aime que soi.One only loves oneself.

 

See also previous lessons Moi/toi/lui/elle = Me/you/him/her - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns) and Nous/vous/eux/elles = Us/you/them - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns) and the more advanced Using [French stress pronouns] + même(s) to express "myself/yourself/etc" in French

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Examples and resources

Il mange moins de viande que vous.He eats less meat than you do.
Ma sœur chante aussi bien qu'elles.My sister sings as well as they do.
Je ne veux que toi !I want only you!
Il ne manque qu'eux.They're the last ones.
[Lit. It's only missing them.]
Il faut toujours aider plus petit que soi.One must always help those smaller than oneself.
On n'aime que soi.One only loves oneself.
Je parle de lui.I speak of him.
Il pense à elle.He's thinking of her.
Nous parlions d'elle tout le temps.We used to talk about her all the time.
Je pense à mes amis. Je pense à eux.I'm thinking about my friends. I'm thinking about them. 
Céline ne pense jamais à lui.Céline never thinks about him.
Paulette n'aime que lui !Paulette loves only him!
Jean est plus grand que moi.Jean is taller than me.
Je suis devant eux.I'm in front of them.
Laura est derrière nous.Laura is behind us.
On ne doit pas penser qu'à soi.One mustn't think only of oneself.
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