# FR: je le/la suis, il/elle l'est - pronom neutre pro-adjectif



## portia1780

Question about using a direct object pronoun to substitute for an adjective.  I'm putting what I think might happen in these situations.  (I'm a girl, so it's something I kinda need to know... )

In the masculine...
- il est intelligent?
- oui, il l'est.

In the feminine (1st person, so it's visible)...
- tu es intelligente?
- oui, je la suis.

Mixed case...
- Il est intelligent. 
- Moi, je la suis aussi.

OR is this something that rarely occurs?

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads merged to create this one.


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## cropje_jnr

I believe we always say "_je le suis_", whether you are male or female. I'm not exactly sure if there's a logical explanation for this, but saying "_je la suis_" sounds very odd to me (unless you're following a female of feminine objective like a car or a woman).


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## Monsieur Hoole

you'd always use masculine singular, regardless of the gender/number of the adjective.  (you're replacing an adjective, not a noun)

M.H.


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## MinaDidi

Now that the native speakers have weighed in and confirmed what I thought...I thought I might try to clear up the grammatical confusion for you.  Try to think of the "le" in this case as not representing you or him or any person.  As Monsieur Hoole mentioned it is replacing the adjective, and so it might seem counterintuitive that then the replacement should not match the original in number and gender.  I think it would help to think of it not as a direct replacement for for the adjective so much as standing in for the idea, for the concept illustrated in the first sentence.  At least that's how I've always perceived it.  Hope that helps!


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## mancunienne girl

Daring? Me? I'm not really

Audacieux? Moi? Je ne le suis pas vraiment..... […]

Alors, au féminin est-ce qu'on dirait "audacieuse? Je ne* la *suis pas vraiment?


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## Grop

No, that would be "Audacieuse? Je ne le suis pas vraiment". Well, I think so.

I am not sure why...


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## Bastoune

Yes, it would be "je ne *le* suis pas vraiment" even if it were a woman because the "le" is a neuter notion of being a quality, not substituting a noun. It's one of those weird things of French grammar.

That's the only explanation.  It "just is"


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## Mnemosyne

_Il est intelligent.

Il en est._

Est-ce que c'est possible, ou est-ce que j'ai tort?


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## Michael_B

Ca marche pas non.

On pourrait dire _Il *l'*est_ si on sait de quoi il s'agit..

Par exemple :

Q: Est ce que Mnemosyne est intelligent ?
R: Oui, il l'est. (intelligent)

ou

Mnemosyne : Mon frère est grand.
Michael_B : Tu l'es aussi. (grand)

Tu vois ?


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## Mnemosyne

Oui, alors, un adjectif, c'est un objet direct?


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## Lacuzon

Bonjour,

Non, avec les verbes d'état dont le verbe être, il n'y a pas d'objets directs mais des attributs du sujet.

Mais le principe du pronom est le même .


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## stevewatson1972

Hello all

I had a bit of a revelation yesterday at my French class.  Basically the concept of a 'pro-adjectif' in French where basically a COD (le) can be used in place of an adjective, in for example:

"Vous êtes content?"
"Oui, je le suis."

Can anyone confirm if this is commonly used in spoken and written french?  Do the 'pro-adjectifs' need to agree?  e.g.

"Vous êtes contente?"
"Oui, je la suis."

Is it also possible to use a 'pro-adverb'?

Merci bien!

Steve


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## Zahikiel

"Oui, je le suis." 
"Oui, je la suis." 

Now to explain that... I'm not sure that i'll be clear =)


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## CapnPrep

In Classical French, this "pro-adjective" did agree with the subject. So if you read some older literature you may come across examples like the following (cited by Grevisse, §673, b):

Vous êtes satisfaite et je ne *la* suis pas (Corneille)
Je veux sur toutes choses que vous soyez contente, et quand vous *la* serez, je *la*  serai (Mme de Sévigné)
Si vous êtes jalouses de la pureté de la chair, soyez-*les* encore beaucoup davantage de la pureté de l’esprit (Bossuet)
Je n’ai jamais été vraiment amoureuse, à présent je *la* suis (Colette)
However, as Zahikiel suggested, « La variation du pronom est anormale aujourd’hui ».

See also the following thread: FR: On ne naît pas femme, on le/la devient - pronom neutre (noun, not adjective, but same idea)


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## jinchia1995

Bonjour à tous!

J'ai rencontré cette phrase pendant que je lisais un article demandé par mon professeur français - si les frais sont importants, le respect des délais de paiement *l'*est tout autant. 

"Le" devant le verbe 'est', à quoi ça sert alors? Je pense qu'il vaut meiux si on la change à ...paiement est tout antant..., n'est-ce pas?

Merci d'avance.

Jin


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## atcheque

Bonjour,

Le _l'_ se rapporte à _important_ : le respect des délais de paiement est tout autant _important _que les frais.


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## vidar

Hello all.

I have this sentence:

'Je suis flic..mais je ne laisse pas la loi m'aveugler sur ce qui est juste et ce qui ne l'est pas'.

Why 'ce qui ne l'est' - what is the l' doing there? To me it doesn't need to be there - what does it even refer to?! Why isn't it just '...ce qui n'est pas.' ?

I might be going insane but i'm starting to believe this particular comic book is badly or weirdly translated - the wording of tonnes of sentences is very strange and unnatural to me but it's true that i'm not fluent in French so i could be wrong.

I read all the time in French - everything from political journals, to Orwell translations, to Houllebecq and Delerm, Camus etc and i've never ever come across such difficult to understand translations.

How can a comic book be more complicated than Le Monde ?!

Thanks!


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## jekoh

It refers to the word "juste".

Similarily, when asked "_Êtes-vous Martien ?_", you would answer "_Non, je ne le suis pas_".


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## vidar

jekoh said:


> It refers to the word "juste".


Thanks.

Does it have to be there or can it be said without like i said? Eg ''...ce qui n'est pas.'?


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## jekoh

Yes, it does have to be there.

Ce qui n'est pas = what doesn't exist.


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