How to form impersonal expressions in French?

To form impersonal expressions in French, you will use the subject pronoun il(it) with a verb conjugated in the third person singular. What does “impersonal expressions” mean? It means an expression is neutral — no one is doing the action. In English, the subject pronoun used in impersonal verbal constructions is “it,” and its equivalent in French is il. Are you confused because you thought il meant “he”? Read on and it will all make sense!

In this post, you’ll be introduced to some useful impersonal expressions to talk about the weather, some verbs which are strictly impersonal, some regular verbs which can be used in impersonal expressions, and much more!

Impersonal expressions like il fait, il y a, and il + verb are used in French to talk about the weather. Indeed, talking about the weather is a perfect way to casually practice your French!

When I have new students, they often translate English weather expressions into French word-for-word, but unfortunately, describing la météo(the weather) in French is very different from describing it in English! Have a look at these common mistakes to avoid when talking about the weather in French, and continue reading to learn impersonal expressions to describe the weather!

• Il fait+ adjective

  Il fait, literally “it does,” is the most useful tool to talk about the weather. It is the equivalent of saying “it is” when describing the weather.

  Il fait beau.

  The weather is nice.

  Il va faire chaud.

  It is going to be hot.

  Il faisait gris.

  It was gray.

  Exception!

  It is quite common to hear Il fait soleil(It is sunny) or Il fait du vent(It's windy). This is acceptable in informal speech (native speakers will say this sometimes), but technically it is not grammatically correct. Can you guess why?!

  → Soleil(sun) and vent(wind) are nouns and shouldn’t follow il fait.

  Similarly, ❌ Il fait pluie(It’s rainy) also wouldn’t work, so I would not recommend using Il fait + noun to describe the weather.

  You can, however, use nouns with il fait in the following expressions:

  Il fait jour.

  It is daytime.

  Il fait nuit.

  It is night time.

  Il fait un temps splendide.

  The weather is gorgeous.

• Il y a(there is/are) + du, de la, des + noun

  The phrase il y a is also a very good tool to describe the weather. The nouns which follow it are introduced by the French partitive articles du, de la, des(some), and de in negative sentences.

  Il y a des nuages.

  It is cloudy.

  Il n’y avait pas de soleil.

  It was not sunny.

  → Have you noticed how in English you’d use “It is” + adjective?

• Il + verb

  Here, just like in English, you need to use impersonal verbs which are only conjugated with il(it).

  Il pleut.

  It is raining.

  Il a neigé.

  It snowed.

  Want to learn more? Have a look at this list of French impersonal verbs for describing the weather! Enough with the weather. Let’s move on to impersonal expressions to talk about pretty much everything else!

Some verbs can only be used in impersonal expressions, which means they are only conjugated with the neutral pronouns il and sometimes ça. Here are some strictly impersonal verbs:

• Falloir(to be necessary to)

  Falloir expresses necessity and obligation and is used with il. It can be followed by:

  • a noun

    Il faut un billet.

    A ticket is necessary.

  • an infinitive verb

    Il ne faut pas faire de bruit.

    It is important not to make any noise.

  • a + que(that) + subjunctive

    Il faut que tu partes.

    You must leave.

  Important

  When falloir is followed by a noun or an infinitive, you can add an indirect object pronoun to show for whom something is necessary.

  Il vous faut un billet.

  You need a ticket.

  Il me faut partir.

  I need to go.

  For the conjugation of falloir in all tenses, click here!

• Verbs used in their pronominal forms

  Some verbs can be used with a reflexive pronoun and have a different, impersonal meaning.

  Let’s take agir(to act). Used in its reflexive form s’agir de, the verb becomes impersonal and means “to be about.”

  Il s’agit d’une histoire vraie.

  It is about a true story.

  Just like falloir, these verbs are used with il and they can be followed by:

  • a noun

  • an verb

  • a subordinate clause + que(that) + subjunctive

  Pronominal verbs used in impersonal expressions…	... in context
  se passer(to happen) + noun	Il s’est passé des choses bizarres ici. Weird things happened here.
  se pouvoir(to be possible)+ subjunctive	Il se peut que je vienne avec Marion. I may come with Marion.
  se trouver(to turn out, happen to) + indicative	Il se trouve que la maison est à vendre. The house happens to be for sale.

  We’ve created a longer list with more strictly impersonal verbs in French for you to check out, as well!

Normal, non-strictly impersonal, verbs can also be used in impersonal structures, often with a change in their meaning. They can be followed by adjectives, nouns, , and infinitive verbs. Let’s examine the most common verbs. And remember you can always take a look at our more exhaustive list of French verbs that often appear in impersonal constructions!

• Rester(to be left) and manquer(to be missing)

  Used as impersonal expressions, rester and manquer mean “to be left” and “to be missing” rather than “to stay” and “to miss.” Both are used with il and require an object.

  Il reste du fromage.

  There is cheese left.

  Il ne manque plus que les couverts.

  Only the cutlery is missing.

  → Have you noticed how the verb/object order is different in English?!

  Like with falloir, an indirect object pronoun can be added to specify who something is left for, or who it’s missing from:

  Il me reste 100 euros.

  I have 100 euros left.

  Important

  Rester can also be used in the impersonal expression il ne reste plus qu’à + infinitive verb, which means one thing is left to be done.

  Il ne reste plus qu’à cuire le gâteau.

  All there is to do now is to bake the cake.

• Devenir(to become)

  Devenir can be used with il in more formal settings, alongside an infinitive introduced by de.

  Il devient compliqué de s’y retrouver.

  It starts being difficult to get one’s head around it.

  In less formal contexts or to introduce an adjective, devenir is used with cela(this) or its short form ça.

  Ça devient compliqué.

  It becomes tricky.

• Paraître(to appear) and sembler(to seem)

  These impersonal verbs can be used with either ça or il, depending on the context! Check the table below to memorize when to use ça and il.

  Ça or il ?	How to use it?	Example
  ça	with just an adjective	Ça semble parfait. It seems perfect.
  ça / il	with an adjective + de + infinitive	Ça / Il paraît bizarre de chuchoter. It seems odd to whisper. → Ça is less formal than il.
  il	que + subordinate clause	Il semble que tu aies tout compris ! It seems you understood it all! Il me semble que tu as tout compris ! It seems to me you understood it all!

  Important

  Did you notice the difference between Il semble que tu aies and Il me semble que tu as? Usually, the clause after il semble uses a subjunctive verb (e.g. aies), but when used with an , like me, sembler is followed by the indicative (e.g. as).

• Valoir(to be worth)

  Valoir is generally used with mieux(better) in impersonal structures and can be followed by an infinitive verb or a clause with the subjunctive.

  Il vaut mieux arrêter.

  It’s better to stop.

  Il vaudrait mieux qu’on parte maintenant.

  We'd better leave now.

  lit. It’s better that we leave now.

• Suffire(to be enough)

  Suffire can be followed by an infinitive verb introduced by de or a clause with the subjunctive. It can also be used either with il and ça but each one produces a slightly different meaning!

  • Used with il, it means "to be enough."

    Il suffit de partir à temps.

    Leaving on time will do.

    Il suffit que tu partes à temps.

    You just need to leave on time.

  • Used with ça, it means “(that’s) enough,” in the sense something needs to stop.

    Les enfants, ça suffit !

    Children, that's enough!

Last but not least: let’s focus on impersonal expressions with être!

Impersonal expressions with être(to be) can be used to give the time, as in, Il est midi(It is noon), but also for other purposes. You can either have:

• Il / C’est + adjective + de + infinitive

  infinitive verb

  C’est cool d’être tous ensemble.

  It’s so cool to be all together.

• Il / C’est + adjective + que + subjunctive

  subjunctive verb

  Il est crucial que vous écoutiez les conseils du guide.

  You must listen to the guide’s instructions.

  subjunctive verb

  C’est dommage que vous soyez partis tôt.

  It’s a shame you left early.

  subjunctive verb

  C’est bête qu’on n’ait pas assez de temps.

  It’s a shame we don’t have enough time.

Have a look at our list of more impersonal expressions with être!

Throughout the article, you have seen c’est and il est, do you know the difference?

When using impersonal expressions in French, keep the following tips in mind:

• To describe the weather in French, think of this:

  • Il fait + adjective

  • Il y a + noun

  • Il + impersonal verb

• Most impersonal expressions are used with the neutral subject pronoun il. Some can also be used with ça (= cela). Être is used with il and ce.

• Some regular verbs can become impersonal when used in their reflexive form. Se trouver, se produire, s’agir…

• Regular verbs used in impersonal expressions can change meaning. Ex: rester(to stay) becomes "to be left."

• Most impersonal verbs can be followed by an infinitive (sometimes introduced by a preposition) or a que clause with the subjunctive.

→ Don’t forget to check out our awesome examples of impersonal expressions and head to our French impersonal construction activities!