Unit 21: Impersonal pronouns (1)
1 Definition
An impersonal pronoun is a pronoun such as il, ce, cela or ça that does not take the place of a specific noun . Rather it refers to something implied in the context, such as the weather in:
Il fait beau aujourd'hui
The weather's nice today
or else to something about to be mentioned:
Il est important que Pierre obtienne cet emploi
It's important for Peter to get this job
2 Constructions taking il 
2.1 Il y a / Il existe
Note that with il y a it is the subject il which governs the verb (avoir) and not the object (as in the English equivalent there is, there are). Hence the French never say *il y ont.
Il y a beaucoup de choses à faire
There are a lot of things to do
Il n'existe pas de meilleure équipe
There's no better team
2.2 Il faut
This can be followed by a noun , an infinitive or a que clause (in which case it takes the subjunctive ):
Il faut un billet pour entrer
You need a ticket to get in
Il faut nettoyer la maison avant qu'elle n'arrive
We need to clean the house before she arrives
Il faut que tu te rendes compte de la gravité de la situation
You need to realize how serious the situation is
2.3 Il s'agit de
This construction is most commonly used:
- to describe what's going on in a novel, a film etc., akin to the English to be about.
Il s'agit dans ce film de la vie du Mahatma Ghandi
This film is about the life of Mahatma Ghandi
You cannot say *Le film s'agit de la vie du Mahatma Ghandi.
- to describe what's going on in real life, akin to the English there is, it is etc.:
Selon le gouvernement, il ne s'agit pas d'une crise économique
According to the government there is no economic crisis
2.4 Expressions of time
Quelle heure est-il?
What time is it?
Il est 5 heures / midi
It's 5 o' clock / midday
Je crois que je vais partir - Il est tard
I think I'm going to leave - It's late
Il est temps que tu ailles au lit
It's time you went to bed
2.5 Expressions about the weather, temperature etc.
| Il pleut | Il neige | Il fait bon |
| It's raining | It's snowing | It's warm |
| Il fait du vent | Il fait noir | Il fait jour |
| It's windy | It's dark | It's light |
2.6 Il reste, Il manque
Il reste encore quelques places
There are still a few places left
Il manque un livre
There's a book missing
2.7 Constructions taking an infinitive / que
There are a large number of constructions taking the infinitive or que or both.
Il vaut mieux ne pas lui téléphoner à cette heure-ci
It's better not to phone him / her at this time
Il arrive que nous nous y rendons en bus
Sometimes we go there by bus
For information about using the indicative or subjunctive after these contructions, see Unit 25.
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