# te / toi / tu



## mrbadexample

Hello again. 

Sorry to be asking what's probably a very basic question, but can someone briefly explain the difference between te, toi and tu, and how they're written with the apostrophes? (I've searched but the words are all too short, sorry)

For example, I want to write: "I didn't take any photos during my visit - has Simon sent you his?"

I've got: "Je n'ai pris aucune photos pendant mon séjour - Simon t'a-t-il envoyé le sien?" 

I think the "t' " should be "te", because the photos are being sent _to_ him, is that correct? And is it correct to write it "t'a-t-il"? 

Is the rest of it ok? (That doesn't count as a second question!)

Many thanks. 
MBE


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## lingogal

For example, I want to write: "I didn't take any photos during my visit - has Simon sent you his?"

I've got: "Je n'ai pris aucune photo (no -s) pendant mon séjour - Simon t'a-t-il envoyé les siennes?" 

I think the "t' " should be "te", because the photos are being sent _to_ him, is that correct? And is it correct to write it "t'a-t-il"? 

Is the rest of it ok? (That doesn't count as a second question!)

Many thanks. 
MBE [/quote]


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## mrbadexample

Nice one, thanks lingogal. 

Ok, "les siennes" because there's more than one photo?

And "photo" presumably is a plural noun?


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## lingogal

You're welcome. Yes, photo is feminine and I would assume that your friend Simon would have taken and sent more than one photo during the trip. That's why I corrected to "les siennes". After aucun or aucune, the noun must be singular (it means "not a single..."). Hope this helps.


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## mrbadexample

That's brilliant, thanks a lot. 

When would you use toi?


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## lingogal

Glad to help. You should be able to type "toi" into the dictionary look-up on this forum to get some help. There are lots of examples and threads there if you scroll down from the initial definition.


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## mont627

alright another basic question...exactly what does the "t-il" refer to?  i understand that we use inversion because its a question, but would it be wrong to say "Simon t'a envoyé les siennes?"


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## Canard

Votre *amie* a-t-*elle* répondu ?
Les *échecs* de l'économie empêcheront-*ils* une meilleure vie ?

The "t" is there for euphony, to avoid a hiatus between two vowels. The "elle/ils" here are just reduplicated pronouns that refer back to the subject. Above are some more examples. 

You can make a question just by raising the intonation of your voice, as in your example, but it's colloquial and wouldn't be used in written or more formal contexts.


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## Frenchnoob

Is there a rule for when to use which?

merci d'avance.


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## Nil-the-Frogg

Well, "tu" is always the subject and "toi" never is. There is certainly a nicer grammatical rule, but it should work... 

Oh, well, there are structures like "C'est toi qui le dit.", but the subject is "c'"...


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## LewaCM

I cannot give a precise rule but 
"tu" is always used with a verb, eg
Que fais-tu ?  Tu viens ...

while "toi" is used without a verb, eg
comme toi, pour toi, grâce à toi
Toi, quand viens-tu ?


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## jann

Hello FrenchNoob 

I've just merged your question into a recent thread on the same subject.  You might want to read back through the first few posts in this thread... and don't forget to do a quick forum search before you open a thread, to see if someone else has already asked the same question.  

Jann
Moderator


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## Outsider

Frenchnoob said:


> Is there a rule for when to use which?
> 
> merci d'avance.



"Tu" is always a subject pronoun. 
"Te" (elided form "t'") is always an object pronoun. 
"Toi" is normally an objective pronoun, but can be subjective in some constructions.

Also:

"Te" is used before verbs and "toi" is used following verbs (like in the imperative).

"Toi" is also used after prepositions, and for emphasis.
Learn more about "toi" and similar pronouns here.


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## ChiMike

lingogal said:


> For example, I want to write: "I didn't take any photos during my visit - has Simon sent you his?"
> 
> I've got: "Je n'ai pris aucune photo (no -s) pendant mon séjour - Simon t'a-t-il envoyé les siennes?"
> 
> I think the "t' " should be "te", because the photos are being sent _to_ him, is that correct? And is it correct to write it "t'a-t-il"?
> 
> Is the rest of it ok? (That doesn't count as a second question!)
> 
> Many thanks.
> MBE


[/quote]

"Aucun, aucune" is best thought of as meaning "not one" or "even one", although we usually say in English (as you have) or translate from French: "no + plural" or "any + plural", but such translations do not reflect the fact that "aucun, aucune" is used in modern French almost exclusively to modify a singular noun, so that the meaning of the sentence is French is closer to:

I didn't take even one photo during my visit,
I took not one photo during my stay 

For "I didn't take any photos" modern French uses the negative partitive:
Je n'ai pas pris de photos pendant mon séjour


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