Kikoulol

Impersonal Verbs

Verbes impersonnels

Most verbs are personal: they must be conjugated for different grammatical persons, such as aller (to go), je vais (I go), tu vas (you go), etc. But some verbs are used impersonally, meaning they have only one conjugation, the third person singular. This is usually the impersonal subject pronoun il, meaning "it," but may also be an interrogative pronoun or indefinite demonstrative pronoun.

Most impersonal verbs also have personal meanings, which may or may not be related.

Weather verbs

Personal meaning

faire

Il fait beau. to be

It’s nice out. faire – to do, make

geler

Il gèle. to freeze

It’s freezing. geler – to freeze

neiger

Il neige. to snow

It’s snowing. –

pleuvoir

Il pleut. to rain

It’s raining. –

Click any verb for the conjugation tables.

Other impersonal verbs

Personal meaning

s’agir de

Il s’agit de grammaire. to be a question of, have to do with

It’s a question of grammar. agir – to act, behave

arriver

Qu’est-ce qui est arrivé ? to happen, to be possible

What happened? arriver – to arrive

il y a

Il y a deux choses à faire. there is, there are

There are two things to do. avoir – to have

convenir

Il convient de le faire. to be advisable, to be agreed

It’s advisable to do it. convenir – to suit

falloir

Il faut que tu comprennes. to be necessary

You have to understand.

importer

Il importe que tu le fasses. to matter, to be important

It’s important that you do it. importer – to import

paraître

Il paraît que tu aies raison. to appear, seem

It appears that you are right. paraître – to appear

se passer

Qu’est-ce qui se passe ? to happen

What’s happening? passer – to pass, to spend time

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