In Order To Understand French Impersonal Verbs 5m6h2z

In order to understand French impersonal verbs, you first have to understand that they have nothing to do with personality. "Impersonal" simply means that the verb does not change according to grammatical person. Therefore, impersonal verbs have only one conjugation: the third person singular indefinite, or il, which in this case is equivalent to "it" in English. Notes • •

Click on the underlined verbs to see how they are conjugated in all the simple tenses. Many impersonal verbs can also be used personally with somewhat different meanings - these are noted in the last column for your reference. * Indicates that the verb needs the subjunctive.

Impersonal verb meaning

Personal meaning

s'agir de - to be a question of, to have to do with agir - to act, behave Il s'agit d'argent. It has to do with money. Il s'agit de faire ce qu'on peut. It's a question of doing what one can. arriver - to happen, to be a possibility Il est arrivé un accident. Il m'arrive de faire des erreurs.

arriver - to arrive There's been an accident. I sometimes make mistakes.

convenir - to be advisable, to be agreed Il convient d'être prudent. Il est convenu que nous déciderons demain.

convenir - to suit Caution is advised. It is agreed that we will decide tomorrow.

faire - to be (with weather or temperature) Il fait du soleil. Il faisait froid.

It's sunny. It was cold.

falloir* - to be necessary Il faut le faire. Il faudra que je le fasse / Il me faudra le faire.

It has to be done. It will be necessary for me to do it / I will have to do it.

importer* - to matter, be important Il importe qu'elle vienne. Il importe de le faire.

importer - to import It's important that she come. It's important to do it.

neiger - to snow Il neige. Il va neiger demain.

It's snowing. It's going to snow tomorrow.

se er - to happen Qu'est-ce qui se e ? Ça s'est mal é.

er - to , spend (time) What's happening? It went badly.

pleuvoir - to rain Il pleut. Il a plu hier.

It's raining. It rained yesterday.

se pouvoir* - to be possible Il se peut qu'elles soient là. Se peut-il que Luc finisse ?

faire - to do, make

pouvoir - can, to be able They may be there / It's possible that they will be there. Is it possible that Luc will finish? / Could it be that Luc will finish?

sembler* - to seem Il semble qu'elle soit malade. Il (me) semble impossible.

sembler - to seem It seems that she is sick. It seems impossible (to me).

suffire* - to suffice, be enough Il suffit que tu le fasses demain / Il te suffit de le faire demain. Ça suffit !

suffire - to suffice It's enough if you do it tomorrow.

tenir à - to depend on Il ne tient qu'à toi de... Ça tient à peu de chose.

tenir - to hold, keep It's up to you to... It can go either way (literally: it depends on little)

se trouver - to be, to happen to be Il se trouve toujours des gens qui... Il se trouve que c'est moi.

trouver - to find There are always people who... It happens to be me.

valoir mieux* - to be better Il vaut mieux le faire toi-même. Il vaut mieux que tu le fasses.

valoir - to be worth It's better for you to do it (yourself).

venir - to come Il vient beaucoup de monde. Il vient un moment où...

venir - to come A lot of people are coming. There comes a time when...

That's enough!