Subject pronouns and the verb être
Unlike Spanish or Italian, French keeps the subject pronoun in front of every verb — you can't drop it. So before you can say much of anything, you need all six pronouns and the verb that means 'to be'. The pronouns are je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles. The verb être is irregular and shows up everywhere; learn the full chant by heart: je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont.
The six pronouns
je = I (becomes j' before a vowel: j'ai = I have). tu = you, singular and casual — to one friend, child, family member. il = he or 'it' for a masculine thing. elle = she or 'it' for a feminine thing. nous = we. vous = you, plural OR formal singular. ils = they (men, mixed groups, masculine things). elles = they (women only, or feminine things only).
tu vs vous — informal vs formal
This is the trap English speakers fall into. tu is for one person you're close to. vous has two jobs: it's the plural 'you all' (talking to a group), AND it's the polite singular 'you' for one stranger, an older person, a shopkeeper, or your boss. When in doubt with one person, default to vous — being too formal is harmless; being too casual is rude. The shift from vous to tu is a real social moment, called tutoiement.
il, elle, on — the third person
il and elle double as 'he/she' and 'it', because every French noun has gender. Le livre (book, masc.) → il est nouveau. La table (table, fem.) → elle est belle. There's also on, a chameleon pronoun that means 'one' / 'we' / 'people in general' depending on context. In casual French, on has almost replaced nous: On va au café = we're going to the café. We won't drill on today, but you'll hear it constantly.
Conjugating être
je suis = I am. tu es = you are. il est / elle est / on est = he/she/one is. nous sommes = we are. vous êtes = you are (plural or formal). ils sont / elles sont = they are. Memorize as a chant: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont. Notice that es, est, and êtes all sound slightly different despite looking similar; the t in êtes is pronounced because of the following silent e.
Putting it together
Je suis étudiant = I'm a student (notice: no un — French drops the article before professions, like Spanish). Tu es français? = Are you French? Elle est de Paris = She's from Paris. Nous sommes amis = We're friends. Vous êtes M. Dupont? = Are you Mr. Dupont? Ils sont à Paris = They're in Paris.
