il (impersonnel)

Impersonal Il with No Real Referent

Level 3

In French, almost every sentence needs a subject. When there is no 'real' person or thing doing the action (like with weather or time), we use the 'impersonal il' as a grammatical filler.

How It Works

French strictly requires a subject for every conjugated verb, with the Imperative mood (commands) being the only exception. In all other cases, if there is no specific person or thing performing the action, the 'impersonal il' is used.

1. Weather and Natural Phenomena
When describing weather, verbs like pleuvoir (to rain) or neiger (to snow) are used impersonally in the third-person singular. While they can appear in other forms in figurative speech, they are 'defective' when referring to the climate.

  • Il pleut (It is raining)
  • Il neige (It is snowing)

The most common way to describe general weather conditions is using il fait:

  • Il fait beau (It is nice out)
  • Il fait froid (It is cold)

2. Telling Time
When stating the hour, French uses il est. Even if the hour is plural, the verb remains singular because 'il' is the subject.

  • Il est trois heures. (It is three o'clock.)

3. Existential and Abstract Constructions
Certain fixed expressions use 'il' to introduce ideas or necessity:

4. Grammatical Behavior
In these constructions, the verb is strictly locked in the 3rd person singular masculine. Even if the 'real subject' (the thing being discussed) is plural, the verb does not change: Il manque deux chaises (Two chairs are missing).

Examples (5)

  1. Il est midi, nous devrions déjeuner.

    It is noon, we should eat lunch.

    Word by Word: It is midday, we should lunch.

    Uses 'il est' to state the time of day.

  2. Il fait très froid dehors aujourd'hui.

    It is very cold outside today.

    Word by Word: It makes very cold outside today.

    The expression 'il fait' is used with adjectives to describe weather conditions.

  3. Il s'agit d'un problème très complexe.

    It is a matter of a very complex problem.

    Word by Word: It itself acts of a problem very complex.

    'Il s'agit de' is a common impersonal construction used to define the subject of discussion.

  4. Il pleut depuis ce matin.

    It has been raining since this morning.

    Word by Word: It rains since this morning.

    'Pleuvoir' (to rain) is an impersonal verb that only conjugates with 'il'.

  5. Il manque trois livres dans la bibliothèque.

    Three books are missing from the library.

    Word by Word: It lacks three books in the library.

    Even though 'three books' is plural, the verb 'manque' stays singular to match the impersonal 'il'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'ce' instead of 'il' for clock time.

    C'est huit heures.
    Il est huit heures.

    While 'c'est' is used for dates (C'est lundi), 'il est' is the standard form for telling the clock time.

  • Pluralizing the verb when the following noun is plural.

    Il arrivent des problèmes.
    Il arrive des problèmes.

    In impersonal constructions, the verb must always be 3rd person singular, regardless of what follows.

  • Trying to use a personal subject with 's'agir de'.

    Ce film s'agit de la guerre.
    Dans ce film, il s'agit de la guerre.

    The verb 's'agir' can only be used with the impersonal 'il'. You cannot use a noun as the subject.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

il (impersonnel)Level 3Impersonal Il with No Real Referent

Learn This First

To understand the impersonal 'il', learners must first be familiar with the third-person singular pronoun 'il'. They should also recognize its specific, non-referential use in common contexts like weather (il fait) and time (il est) before generalizing the concept to other verbs like 'il s'agit de' or 'il pleut'.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern