Stressed pronouns (also called emphatic pronouns) are used instead of a noun when you want to emphasize something (e.g : come with me). They can be placed at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.
Here are the French stressed pronouns :
| Singular | Plural |
| Moi (I,me) | Nous (we, us) |
| Toi (you) | Vous (you) |
| Lui (he,him) | Eux (they, them : masculine) |
| Elle (she, her) | Elles (they, them : feminine) |
| Soi (oneself, yourself, ourselves) |
Please note that some stressed pronouns are identical in form to subject pronouns which can be confusing for non native speakers.
When to use emphatic pronouns ?
1) After a preposition :
C’est pour moi ? / Is this for me ?
On va passer chez toi ce soir / We’ll stop by your place this evening
Je vous en prise, après vous ! / Please, after you !
2) For emphasis, especially to express a contrast :
Toi, tu ressembles à notre mère mais moi non ! / You look like our mother but I don’t
Ils ont beaucoup de chance eux ! / They are very lucky !
Elles m’énervent elles ! / They (fem.) are getting on my nerves !
3) On their own without a verb :
Qui veut aller au cinéma ? Moi ! / Who wants to go to the movie theater ? Me !
Moi ? Ca va ! Et toi ? / Me ? I’m good ! And you ?
Bonne journée ! Toi aussi ! / Have a nice day ! You too !
4) After “c’est” and “ce sont” :
C’est toi Robert ? Is that you Robert ?
Ce sont eux ! / It’s them !
5) When the subject of the sentence is composed of a pronoun and noun or of two pronouns :
Sophie et toi, vous allez perdre ! / Sophie and you, you are going to lose !
Ma mère et lui ne s’aiment pas ! / My mother and him do not like each other !
6) In comparisons :
Tu es plus grand que moi ! / You are taller than me !
Il est plus vieux que toi ! / He is older than you !
7) With “même” and “mêmes” :
You can add -même(s) to the stressed pronouns when you want to emphasize something : moi-même (myself), toi-même (yourself), lui-même (himself, itself), elle-même (herself, itself), soi-même (oneself, yourself, ourselves), nous-mêmes (ourselves), vous-mêmes (yourselves), eux-mêmes (themselves,masculine), elles-mêmes (themselves, feminine).
Je l’ai fait moi-même / I did it myself
Tu conduis toi-même ? / You are driving yourself ?
Ils l’ont choisi eux-mêmes ! / They chose it themselves !