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A pronoun replaces a noun which has been mentioned or is obvious from context. An indefinite pronoun refers to people or things without identifying them precisely.
quelqu'un, quelque chose
Quelqu'un (somebody) is used in affirmative or interrogative sentences to refer to a person, whether male or female. Quelque chose (something) is the equivalent pronoun used to refer to a thing. If quelqu'un or quelque chose is followed by an adjective, the adjective needs to be preceded by de.
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| Tammy: Quelque chose d'extraordinaire est arrivé aujourd'hui. J'ai rencontré quelqu'un de légendaire. |
Tammy: Something exceptional happened today. I met somebody legendary. |
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The negative form of quelqu'un is personne (no one, nobody) and the negative form of quelque chose is rien (nothing).
Remember that ne precedes the verb when personne and rien are used in negative sentences.
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| Tex: Qui as-tu rencontré? |
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Tex: Who did you meet? |
| Tammy: Personne que tu connais. |
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Tammy: No one you know. |
| Tex: C'est tout? Tu ne me dis rien d'autre? |
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Tex: That's all? You aren't telling me anything else? |
| Tammy: Ça ne vaut pas la peine. Personne ne veut me croire. |
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Tammy: It's not worth the trouble. Nobody wants to believe me. |
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Quelques-uns (a few, masculine) and quelques-unes (a few, feminine) are pronouns used in the plural to speak about people or things.
Note that the s at the end of quelques is pronounced before the following uns or unes.
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| Tex: Quoi? Tu as rencontré Ricky Williams? Quelques-uns de mes amis me disent que tu es amoureuse de lui ... |
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Tex: What? You met Ricky Williams? Some of my friends tell me you are in love with him ... |
| Tammy: Un peu ... Parmi mes copines, quelques-unes sont complètement folles de lui. |
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Tammy: A little ... Among my girlfriends, some are completely crazy about him. |
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chacun vs. aucun
Chacun (each one) is singular and masculine, chacune is singular and feminine.
Chaque, on the other hand, is an indefinite determiner used to modify a noun.
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| Tex: Tu es amoureuse de Ricky Williams?! Alors c'est chacun sa vie maintenant?! |
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Tex: You're in love with Ricky Williams?! So it's everyone for himself now?! |
| Tammy: Mais non, calme-toi! |
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Tammy: Of course not, calm down! |
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The negative form of chacun is aucun. Aucun (none, not a one, not a single) is singular and masculine,
aucune is singular and feminine. They are used with ne.
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| Tammy: J'ai rencontré beaucoup de footballeurs, mais aucun ne me fait cet effet. |
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Tammy: I have met many football players, but none has this effect on me. |
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more indefinite pronouns
Plusieurs (several), certains (some; masculine) / certaines (some; feminine),
tous (all, everybody; masculine) / toutes (all, everybody; feminine) are plural indefinite pronouns.
They are used in place of plural nouns. Note that the s is pronounced in tous when it is a pronoun.
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| Les copines de Tammy? Plusieurs sont folles de Ricky Williams. |
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Tammy's girlfriends? Several are crazy about Ricky Williams. |
| Les copines de Fiona? Certaines sont folles de Joe-Bob. |
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Fiona's girlfriends? Some are crazy about Joe-Bob. |
| Les copains de Tex? Certains sont amoureux de Tammy. |
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Tex's friends? Some are in love with Tammy. |
| Les copains de Tex? Tous sont dingues de Bette. |
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Tex's friends? All are crazy about Bette. |
| Les copines de Tammy? Toutes sont folles de Tex! |
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Tammy's girlfriends? All are crazy about Tex! |
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tout
Tout (everything), on the other hand, is always singular. For example:
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| Tammy: Tex, tout va bien? |
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Tammy: Tex, everything's ok? |
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autre
Autre is always preceded by a determiner: un autre (another, masculine),
l'autre (the other, masculine or feminine); une autre (another, feminine);
d'autres (others, masculine or feminine), les autres (the others, masculine or feminine).
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| Tex: Non! Il y a un autre dans ta vie!? |
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Tex: No! There is another in your life!? |
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Note the following phrases with autre: autre chose (something else),
l'un et l'autre (the one and the other, both, masc), l'une et l'autre
(the one and the other, both, fem), les uns et les autres (one and every, masc),
les unes et les autres (one and every, fem), ni l'un ni l'autre (neither one nor the other),
l'un à l'autre (to one another), l'un pour l'autre (for one another).
n'importe qui
N'importe qui means 'anybody', 'anyone at all'; n'importe quoi means 'anything', 'whatever', 'nonsense'.
You may also find qui que ce soit (anybody) and quoi que ce soit (anything).
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| Tex: Tammy, je ne suis pas n'importe qui! Tu ne peux pas me traiter comme ça! |
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Tex: Tammy, I am not just anybody! You cannot treat me this way! |
| Tammy: Tu racontes n'importe quoi, Tex! |
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Tammy: You are talking nonsense Tex! |
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quiconque
Quiconque means 'whoever'.
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| Tammy: Quiconque nous écoute en ce moment doit te trouver ridicule! |
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Tammy: Whoever is listening to us right now must think you are ridiculous! |
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tel(s), telle(s)
Tel(s) (masc), telle(s) (fem) may be translated as 'such', 'such as', 'like' or 'as' according to the context. For example,
'Tel père, tel fils' would be the translation of 'Like father, like son'.
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| Tammy: Je n'ai jamais vu une jalousie telle que la tienne! |
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Tammy: I have never seen such jealousy as yours! |
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