French dictionary
ils/il/
pronoun · A1 · Frequency 20
pronounmasculine
Meanings
they
French third-person plural masculine or mixed-gender pronoun, used to refer to males or mixed groups.
Examples
Ils arrivent à la gare vers midi.
They arrive at the station around noon.
Ils travaillent ensemble depuis plusieurs années.
They have been working together for several years.
Ils ont invité leurs amis à dîner.
They invited their friends to dinner.
Collocations
- ils sont partisthey left
- ils parlent françaisthey speak French
- ils ont gagnéthey won
Common mistakes
Marie et Sophie arrivent ; ils attendent devant la porte.
Marie et Sophie arrivent ; elles attendent devant la porte.
ils is used for an all-male or mixed-gender group; for a group consisting only of women, elles is required. ils cannot refer to an exclusively female group.