Introduction

An impersonal verb does not vary in person or number. Its subject is the impersonal or non-referential pronoun il. It is thus only conjugated in the 3rd person singular of all its tenses. In the compound tenses, the past participle of an impersonal verb is invariable. Note that impersonal constructions are used more frequently in French than in English.

There are several categories of impersonal verbs:

1. – ‘weather’/‘meteorological’ verbs

2. – verbs which are exclusively impersonal: falloir and s'agir de

3. – avoir and être, which are extensively used in impersonal constructions (il y a; il est)

4. – verbs which are only occasionally impersonal, with a change of meaning

In the impersonal voice, certain verbs can be used with impersonal il for syntactic reasons (with no change in meaning).

Weather verbs

They are normally intransitive, and only used with impersonal il, but see exceptions below.

1. (i) neiger, grêler, venter

Ex: Il a neigé toute la nuit.

It has been snowing all night.

Il a grêlé hier: les récoltes sont dévastées.

We had hail yesterday: the crops are totally destroyed.

NB: il vente is now rare, except in idioms:

Ex: Qu'il pleuve ou qu'il vente, demain, je sors!

(= quel que soit le temps)

Come rain or shine, I shall go out tomorrow!

1. (ii) pleuvoir (to rain) and tonner (to thunder) can also have personal subjects

Ex: ‘Ici pleuvent les nouvelles vraies ou fausses.’

Michelet – cited in Robert

Here rains the news, whether true or false.