elle
/ɛl/
elle is the French word for "she".
elle is a third-person singular feminine pronoun. It is used to refer to a single female person or a female animal.
Which one should you use?
elle is the feminine counterpart to the masculine pronoun il (he).
How does it change in a sentence?
To make elle plural, you add an s to form elles, which refers specifically to a group of females.
How do you pronounce it?
/ɛl/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers may mistakenly use elle to refer to a group of mixed genders. In French, any group containing at least one male must use the masculine ils instead.
Did you know?
- While elle means 'she', the French word for 'the L' (the letter) is also pronounced exactly the same way: /ɛl/.
- When used in the phrase elle est…, the pronoun elle can refer to an inanimate object if that object's grammatical gender is feminine, such as a table or a car.
- The word elle descends from the Latin word illa, which was used to indicate a specific person or thing that was far away from the speaker.
Examples in context
- Elle est belle.She is beautiful.
- Elle est sympa.She is nice.
- Elle est très gentille.She is very kind.
- Je la connais, elle est ma voisine.I know her, she is my neighbor.
- Est-ce qu'elle arrive bientôt ?Is she arriving soon?
Example conversation
Nathan and Manon are talking about a mutual friend.
- NathanOù est Marie ?Where is Marie?
- ManonElle est dans le jardin.She is in the garden.
- NathanEst-ce qu'elle t'attend ?Is she waiting for you?
- ManonOui, elle est là.Yes, she is there.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries elle, CC BY-SA 4.0.
