137 - How to Use Impersonal Verbs in French ('il faut', 'il pleut'...)
In this lesson, you'll learn about impersonal verbs in French, such as 'il faut' (it is necessary), 'il pleut' (it's raining), etc. Don’t miss it, it’s important!
After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to practice!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!
Hello everyone! Bonjour à tous! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode number 137, numéro 137!
Today, we're doing some grammar. We’re talking about impersonal verbs. We use quite a lot of impersonal verbs in French, a bit more than in English I believe, and I had a few questions about them lately from my students, so today is the day to learn about it! And I know this topic sounds boring, but I think this is a really important lesson.
Before we start, as always, if you're new to the podcast, please make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet handy, so you can see the spelling of the words while you listen. And when you finish this lesson, you can head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to download your lesson's exercises and practice what you've learned today. You'll find all the download links in the episode notes.
Alright, so what are impersonal verbs. Impersonal verbs in French are used with the pronoun "il" as their subject. However, in an impersonal context, "il" does not mean "he" as it usually does in other sentences. Instead, this "il" is impersonal, meaning it is used more in a general sense, and no one or nothing in particular is doing the action.
A very common example of an impersonal verb, which I’m sure you already know, is the verb "pleuvoir" (to rain). "Il pleut" means "it’s raining." "Il” doesn’t mean “he” in this sentence, right? It means “it.” I think we can all agree on that. Because the verb “to rain” does not refer to a specific subject; no one or nothing specific is "making it rain." "It" simply expresses that it is raining, in a general sense. Therefore, the impersonal verb “pleuvoir” (to rain) is always going to be used with the impersonal pronoun "il"! You are never going to hear "je pleus" or "tu pleus," etc. It’s always going to be "il pleut." Same as in English actually, you don’t say I’m raining, you’re raining, etc.
So, I hope that was sort of clear, but don’t worry, I’ll make more sense as we advance in the lesson.
Impersonal verbs in French fall into four main categories:
1) The Weather Verbs 🌧️
2) The Always Impersonal Verbs 🔄
3) Avoir and Être (Used in Impersonal Context) 🏗️
4) The Sometimes Impersonal Verbs 🕒
I’m going to explain the four categories and I will give you examples.
1) Weather Verbs 🌧️
These verbs are commonly used in an impersonal context with the pronoun "il" to describe weather conditions:
Neiger (to snow):
"Il neige" (It is snowing)
You’re not going to hear "je neige," "tu neiges," etc. It’s always used with "il." It’s a pretty easy expression to remember by heart, so well, remember this one by heart!
Pleuvoir (to rain):
"Il pleut" (It is raining)
We’ve talked about this one before.
Faire (to do or to make):
"Il fait chaud" (It is hot)
"Il fait froid" (It is cold)
"Il fait beau" (The weather is nice)
And by the way, you can learn more about how to talk about the weather in French in episode 10 of the French Made Easy podcast.
Note: the verb "faire" is not just used for the weather; "faire" is I’d say the most flexible verb in French and is used in so many other expressions that have nothing to do with the weather. But in weather contexts, it always appears impersonally with the pronoun "il."
2) Always Impersonal Verbs 🔄
Certain verbs are exclusively impersonal, and you've got to learn them by heart. The two main ones are:
Falloir (to need, must, to be necessary):
This verb can be a bit tricky but can be followed by a noun, an infinitive verb, or "que" + subjunctive. (If you haven’t come across the subjunctive yet, don’t worry about it for now, as that’s a bit complicated. But I teach it, as simply as can be, in my course, French Grammar Made Easy.)
"Il faut un passeport pour voyager à l'étranger." ("A passport is necessary to travel abroad. / One needs a passport to travel abroad.)
"Il faut étudier" (It’s necessary to study./One must study.)
"Il faut que nous partions" (It’s necessary that we leave. / We need to leave.)
S’agir de (to be about):
"Il s’agit de respect." (It is about respect.)
"De quoi s'agit-il?" (What is it about?)
3) Avoir and Être (Used in Impersonal Context) 🔄
You already know these two verbs—obviously, the most common verbs in French. They are often used in impersonal expressions:
Avoir (to have):
In an impersonal context, it is used in the expression: "il y a" (there is/there are). It’s not a word for word translation.
"Il y a une voiture dans la rue" (There is a car in the street). I have a full episode on this topic, so I’m not going to dive into it today, but I personally think you’ll find it very useful. The link is in the transcript, it’s episode 67.
Être (to be):
Again, in an impersonal context, être is often used in time expressions:
"Il est huit heures" (It is eight o'clock).
"Il est tard" (It is late).
And just a reminder that there are other ways these two verbs are used in impersonal contexts. However, since this is a beginner lesson, I’ve really stripped it down to the essentials.
4) Sometimes Impersonal Verbs 🕒
Some verbs typically used in a personal form, as in 'not impersonal verbs', can also appear impersonally. Here are four common verbs and their impersonal structures. Again, if you can learn these four by heart, that would be great:
Sembler (to seem, to appear):
Impersonal structure: "il semble que + subjunctive" ("It seems that..." )
"Il semble qu'il y ait une erreur." (It seems that there is a mistake.)
Note: I know I’m a broken record, but please remember that there are more impersonal structures with the verb "sembler."
Valoir (to be worth):
Impersonal structure: "il vaut mieux + infinitive" ( "It is better to...")
"Il vaut mieux faire attention." (It is better to be careful.)
Rester (to stay, to remain):
Impersonal structure: "il reste + noun" (There is/are [noun] left, or there remains)
"Il reste encore 3 pommes." (There are still 3 apples left.)
“Il reste du gâteau.” (There is some cake left.)
Arriver (to arrive, to happen):
Impersonal structure: "il arrive que + subjunctive" ("It happens that..." )
"Il arrive qu'on se trompe parfois." (It happens that we make mistakes sometimes.)
Alright, phew, that was a lot. Let me give you a quick recap of this episode:
Impersonal verbs are used with the impersonal pronoun "il," which does not refer to anyone or anything in particular and is used in a general sense.
There are 4 categories of impersonal verbs:
1) The Weather Verbs 🌧️: Includes verbs like:
Neiger ("il neige" - it is snowing)
Pleuvoir ("il pleut" - it is raining)
Faire ("Il fait chaud" - it is hot, "Il fait froid" - it is cold, "Il fait beau" - the weather is nice)
2) The Always Impersonal Verbs 🔄: Includes verbs like:
Falloir ("il faut" - it is necessary)
S’agir de ("il s’agit de" - it is about)
3) Avoir and Être (Used in Impersonal Context) 🏗️: Includes expressions like:
"il y a" (there is/there are)
"il est" followed by time (e.g., "il est 8 heures" - it is 8 o'clock)
4) The Sometimes Impersonal Verbs 🕒: Includes verbs like:
Sembler ("il semble que" - it seems that)
Valoir ("il vaut mieux" - it is better to)
Rester ("il reste" - there remains)
Arriver ("il arrive que" - it happens that)
Alright so that’s it for this episode, re-listen to it a second time if you need. But make sure you go and practice what you’ve learned today with the exercises. Without practice, it’s going to be hard to remember that lesson.
Thanks so much for listening! I hope that was helpful for you.
À bientôt, bye!