je

The pronoun je is the most common way to refer to yourself in French. Here are the essential rules to become proficient in its use:

• Elision: When the following word starts with a vowel sound or a mute 'h', je becomes j'. This is mandatory. However, if the word starts with an 'aspirated h', like haïr (to hate), you do not elide: Je hais. In casual spoken French, especially when dropping ne, je frequently blends with the following consonant (e.g., j'suis, or j'sais pas which often sounds like 'chais pas'). Note: Elision never occurs when je follows the verb in an inversion (e.g., Ai-je ?).
• Capitalization: Unlike the English 'I', je is only capitalized if it is the first word of the sentence. Example: Il sait que je viens. When J' starts a sentence, only the 'J' is capitalized, not the following vowel (e.g., J'aime, not J'Aime).
• Placement and Inversion: It usually precedes the verb. Unlike in English, you cannot place an adverb between je and the verb (e.g., 'I always eat' is Je mange toujours, not Je toujours mange). The only words that can separate je from the conjugated verb are object pronouns (like me, te, le), adverbial pronouns (like y and en), and the negative particle ne (e.g., Je ne te vois pas, J'y vais). In formal inversion, it follows the verb. For verbs ending in -e in the je form (like regular -er verbs), the -e changes to an accented -é or -è (e.g., Aimé-je ?, Parlè-je ?). For verbs that do not end in -e, inversion with je is highly restricted in modern French to a few short, common verbs (e.g., suis-je, ai-je, dois-je, sais-je, and the special form Puis-je ? for pouvoir). For most other verbs, you must use est-ce que instead (e.g., Est-ce que je pars ?).
• Gender Agreement: While je itself is gender-neutral, any adjectives or past participles describing it must agree with the speaker's gender. For example, a man writes Je suis fatigué, while a woman writes Je suis fatiguée.
• Emphasis: To emphasize that you are the one doing something, the most common method is pronoun doubling using the stressed pronoun moi (e.g., Moi, je veux y aller or Je ne sais pas, moi). You can also use the structure C'est moi qui followed by the verb conjugated in the first-person singular (e.g., C'est moi qui fais la vaisselle).
• When NOT to use Je: You cannot use je in a list, as a standalone one-word answer, or after a preposition. Instead, you must use the stressed pronoun moi (e.g., Marie et moi, Moi !, or pour moi).
• Dropping the Pronoun: French is not a pro-drop language, so je is strictly required in spoken and standard written French. In casual speech, it is phonetically reduced and blended (e.g., J'suis désolé or Chuis désolé), but not omitted. Dropping it entirely (e.g., Suis désolé) is restricted to informal written contexts like text messages or diaries.