A2
moi, toi, lui, eux — the stressed pronouns
The French stressed pronouns, the four situations that require them, and why je and tu cannot be used alone.
| moi | me |
| toi | you |
| lui / elle | him / her |
| nous / vous | us / you |
| eux / elles | them |
Je, tu and il can only ever sit in front of a verb. Everywhere else, French needs these.
After a preposition
Tu viens avec moi ?
you come with me
Are you coming with me?
C’est pour eux.
it-is for them
It’s for them.
Standing alone
Qui veut du café ? — Moi !
who wants some coffee — me
Who wants coffee? — Me!
Qui veut du café ? — Je !
Qui veut du café ? — Moi !
Je cannot stand without a verb behind it. A one-word answer always takes the stressed form.
For emphasis
French cannot stress a word with the voice the way English does, so it adds the pronoun instead.
Moi, je ne suis pas d’accord.
me, I not am not of-agreement
I don’t agree.
Both pronouns in one sentence. English would carry the emphasis on I; French doubles the word.
After que in a comparison
Il est plus grand que moi.
he is more tall than me
He’s taller than I am.
See comparatives.
With chez, and in compound subjects
Mon frère et moi, nous habitons ensemble.
my brother and me, we live together
My brother and I live together.
Note that French then adds nous as well. A compound subject is summed up by the matching subject pronoun, which English does not do.