I am bilingual and have been speaking French every day since I was 4. I work every day entirely in French. I am correcting you on a fundamental aspect of the French language.
Vous is equivalent to saying āyou allā in English. It can also be used as a 2nd person singular pronoun, equivalent to āyouā in English. Youāll note that āyouā isnāt gendered.
āTheyā is a 3rd person pronoun. Itās used when referring indirectly to someone else. āHeā and āsheā are also 3rd person pronouns. āYouā is the 2nd person singular pronoun in English. We donāt have a dedicated 2nd person singular pronoun (not since like the 17th century), so when referring to 2nd person to a group of people, we say āyou allā or āyou guysā etc.
Pronouns in French go like this:
Person
Singular
Plural
first
Je
Nous
second
Tu
Vous
third
Il/Elle
Ils/Elles
In English the equivalents are:
Person
Singular
Plural
first
I
We
second
You
āYou all/guysā etc
third
He/She
They
Peopleās preferred pronouns in both English and French are third-person ones (at least when referring to these kinds of pronouns, thereās others like Sir/Maāam). French does not have a gender neutral third person pronoun by default.
Spanish is pretty similar, but we have a dedicated formal āyouā (usted/ustedes). Its technically second person, but its conjugated the same as third
Didā¦ did the tables not help? They can be used as either singular or plural but itās always third person.
If I was speaking directly to you, and you used they/them pronouns. I wouldnāt convert the sentence āYou are tallā to āThey are tallā. Those 2 sentences mean entirely different things. Thatās what the āpersonā part of a pronoun is. Itās who youāre referring to. 1st person is the person speaking, 2nd person is the person being spoken to, and 3rd person is someone about whom you are speaking.
1st - āI am tall.ā
2nd - āYou are tall.ā
3rd - āHe/She/They is/are tall.ā
1st - āJe suis grand.ā
2nd - āTu/Vous es grand.ā
3rd - āIl/Elle est grand(e).ā
Does this help? Tu is already not gendered. Vous isnāt gendered either. Itās not the same as ātheyā at all. It means an entirely different thing.
No youād say āThey are tall.ā Because thatās how we conjugate that in English. They has always been used as both a singular and a plural because we donāt always know the gender of who were talking about. In French il/ils is the default when you donāt know a 3rd personās gender. Il/ils is masculine.
It isnāt. Iām a French speaker, Iām telling you it isnāt. Vous is second person singular or plural. They is third person singular or plural. They is NEVER second person. Vous is NEVER third person. This is how the language is used around the world today.
I genuinely cannot tell if you are trolling. I am a French speaker. I work in it every single day.
Vous is NOT A THIRD PERSON PRONOUN. IT IS A SECOND PERSON PRONOUN. IT MEANS āYou allā. THAT IS NOT THE KIND OF PRONOUNS TRANS PEOPLE HAVE PREFERENCES ABOUT.
MY PARTNER IS NONBINARY AND USES THEY/THEM PRONOUNS IN ENGLISH. THERE IS NO EQUIVALENT TO THAT IN FRENCH.
The only pronoun suggested by anyone as a gender neutral one in French is āielā. It is not in common use at all and lacks any kind of widespread adoption.
How are you so entitled that you can continue to be this blatantly wrong about something you clearly do not understand? Itās genuinely incredible.
Sounds like youāre mad for the sake of being mad
Singular they is the same in English
I am bilingual and have been speaking French every day since I was 4. I work every day entirely in French. I am correcting you on a fundamental aspect of the French language.
Vous is equivalent to saying āyou allā in English. It can also be used as a 2nd person singular pronoun, equivalent to āyouā in English. Youāll note that āyouā isnāt gendered.
āTheyā is a 3rd person pronoun. Itās used when referring indirectly to someone else. āHeā and āsheā are also 3rd person pronouns. āYouā is the 2nd person singular pronoun in English. We donāt have a dedicated 2nd person singular pronoun (not since like the 17th century), so when referring to 2nd person to a group of people, we say āyou allā or āyou guysā etc.
Pronouns in French go like this:
In English the equivalents are:
Peopleās preferred pronouns in both English and French are third-person ones (at least when referring to these kinds of pronouns, thereās others like Sir/Maāam). French does not have a gender neutral third person pronoun by default.
Spanish is pretty similar, but we have a dedicated formal āyouā (usted/ustedes). Its technically second person, but its conjugated the same as third
Languages evolve through use
You can use vous in place of il elle, just like there is nothing stopping people from using they in place of he/her in English
Didā¦ did the tables not help? They can be used as either singular or plural but itās always third person.
If I was speaking directly to you, and you used they/them pronouns. I wouldnāt convert the sentence āYou are tallā to āThey are tallā. Those 2 sentences mean entirely different things. Thatās what the āpersonā part of a pronoun is. Itās who youāre referring to. 1st person is the person speaking, 2nd person is the person being spoken to, and 3rd person is someone about whom you are speaking.
1st - āI am tall.ā
2nd - āYou are tall.ā
3rd - āHe/She/They is/are tall.ā
1st - āJe suis grand.ā
2nd - āTu/Vous es grand.ā
3rd - āIl/Elle est grand(e).ā
Does this help? Tu is already not gendered. Vous isnāt gendered either. Itās not the same as ātheyā at all. It means an entirely different thing.
You/they arenāt gendered already. You/They are tall. He/She is tall
People started using them as pronouns even though you would never say āthey is tallā
Itās the same thing
No youād say āThey are tall.ā Because thatās how we conjugate that in English. They has always been used as both a singular and a plural because we donāt always know the gender of who were talking about. In French il/ils is the default when you donāt know a 3rd personās gender. Il/ils is masculine.
It isnāt. Iām a French speaker, Iām telling you it isnāt. Vous is second person singular or plural. They is third person singular or plural. They is NEVER second person. Vous is NEVER third person. This is how the language is used around the world today.
No shit
Itās for people who donāt want to be called it
This is you just being angry for the sake of being angry
Stick with masc pronouns, as has been explained to you from the beginning; if someone wants to be called Vous then they will use it
I genuinely cannot tell if you are trolling. I am a French speaker. I work in it every single day.
Vous is NOT A THIRD PERSON PRONOUN. IT IS A SECOND PERSON PRONOUN. IT MEANS āYou allā. THAT IS NOT THE KIND OF PRONOUNS TRANS PEOPLE HAVE PREFERENCES ABOUT.
MY PARTNER IS NONBINARY AND USES THEY/THEM PRONOUNS IN ENGLISH. THERE IS NO EQUIVALENT TO THAT IN FRENCH.
The only pronoun suggested by anyone as a gender neutral one in French is āielā. It is not in common use at all and lacks any kind of widespread adoption.
How are you so entitled that you can continue to be this blatantly wrong about something you clearly do not understand? Itās genuinely incredible.
Buddy, just use it and it will be used