French Impersonal Verbs and Expressions Explained

Updated: 20 September 2026

French impersonal verbs can seem confusing at first. Who exactly does il refer to in il pleut, il faut partir or il est important de pratiquer? The answer is simple: in these sentences, il does not replace a person or a thing. It is simply the grammatical subject required by the French sentence.

French speakers use impersonal verbs and expressions every day to talk about the weather, time, necessity, possibility and general opinions. Once you recognise the most common structures, they become much easier to understand—and to use naturally in conversation.

In this guide, I’ll explain the essential structures, show you the difference between il, ce and ça, and help you avoid the mistakes I often hear from learners. If you would like to practise these expressions aloud, my French conversation lessons are designed to help you turn grammar into confident, spontaneous French.

An impersonal verb describes an action or situation without referring to a specific person or object. In French, these constructions usually use il.

How Does the Impersonal Il Work?

In an impersonal expression, il is simply the grammatical subject required by the French sentence. It does not mean “he”, and the verb always remains in the third-person singular.

• Il pleut. (It is raining.)
• Il faut réserver. (It’s necessary to book.)
• Il est tard. (It is late.)

Which French Verbs Can Be Impersonal?

Some verbs are essentially impersonal:

• falloir (to be necessary)
• pleuvoir (to rain)
• neiger (to snow)
• s’agir de (to be about or concern)

Other verbs can be personal or impersonal, depending on how they are used:

• Un problème est arrivé. (A problem occurred.)
• Il arrive que le train soit en retard. (It sometimes happens that the train is late.)

To help you with conjugating these verbs, you could use apps such as Bescherelle, VaTeFaireConjuguer or Le Conjugueur. These are great tools for our busy life.

An impersonal verb describes an action or situation without referring to a specific person or object. In French, these constructions usually use il.

Talking About the Weather

Weather expressions are often the first impersonal structures French learners meet.

Strictly speaking, faire and avoir are not always impersonal verbs. However, expressions such as il fait chaud and il y a du vent are impersonal constructions because il does not represent anyone or anything.

You can find more seasonal vocabulary and examples in my guide to weather terms in French.

Expressing Necessity With Il faut

The verb falloir is one of the most useful French impersonal verbs. In everyday French, you will normally encounter it as il faut.

Il faut + noun

• Il faut du temps. (Time is needed.)
• Il faut une réservation. (A reservation is required.)

Il faut + infinitive

Use this structure for general advice, instructions or obligations.

• Il faut pratiquer régulièrement. (You need to practise regularly.)
• Il faut arriver dix minutes à l’avance. (You should arrive ten minutes early.)

Il faut que + subjunctive

Use il faut que when the action has a specific subject.

• Il faut que tu pratiques régulièrement. (You need to practise regularly.)
• Il faut que nous partions maintenant. (We need to leave now.)

Notice that the verb after il faut que is in the subjunctive. If this mood still feels mysterious, my guide to the French subjunctive explains it step by step.

Using Il est + Adjective

French often uses il est + adjective to express a general judgement, possibility or necessity.

Use de + infinitive when there is no specific subject:

• Il est important de vérifier les horaires. (It is important to check the timetable.)
• Il est difficile de tout comprendre au début. (It is difficult to understand everything at first.)

Use que + a conjugated verb when you introduce a specific subject:

• Il est important que vous vérifiiez les horaires. (It is important that you check the timetable.)
• Il est possible qu’elle arrive plus tard. (She may arrive later.)

Many expressions of necessity, emotion, doubt or possibility take the subjunctive after que. Expressions of certainty generally take the indicative.

Telling the Time and Using Il y a

French also uses impersonal expressions to talk about time and existence.

• Il est huit heures. (It is eight o’clock.)
• Il est trop tard. (It is too late.)
• Il y a un café au coin de la rue. (There is a café on the corner.)
• Il y a plusieurs solutions. (There are several solutions.)
• Je suis arrivée il y a deux jours. (I arrived two days ago.)

The expression il y a can mean either “there is/there are” or “ago”. The context tells you which meaning is intended. For a clear comparison with other time expressions, read depuis, il y a and pendant: no more mistakes.

These expressions appear frequently in conversations, news reports and formal writing.

Expressing Possibility and General Situations

Use these impersonal expressions to describe possibilities, appearances or situations that may occasionally occur.

Il se peut que and il arrive que are followed by the subjunctive. After il semble que, the mood may vary depending on the degree of certainty.

Giving Information, Advice or Instructions

These expressions are useful for explaining a topic, giving advice or indicating what needs to be done.

Be careful with il s’agit de: the preposition de is essential.

• Correct: Il s’agit d’un problème important.
• Incorrect: Il s’agit un problème important.

French can use il, ce or ça to express general ideas, but these pronouns are not interchangeable.

Using Il in Impersonal Expressions

Use il est + adjective + de/que for neutral or relatively formal statements:

• Il est interdit de fumer ici. (Smoking is forbidden here.)
• Il est important de pratiquer. (It is important to practise.)
• Il est essentiel que vous soyez à l’heure. (It is essential that you be on time.)

Using C’est to Comment on an Idea

Use c’est + adjective to comment on a situation or an idea that has already been introduced:

• C’est interdit. (It is forbidden.)
• C’est important. (It is important.)
• Apprendre une langue, c’est passionnant. (Learning a language is fascinating.)

Compare:

• Il est important de pratiquer. (It is important to practise.)
• Pratiquer tous les jours, c’est important. (Practising every day is important.)

Using Ça in Spoken French

Ça is very common in everyday spoken French:

• Ça suffit ! (That’s enough!)
• Ça va ? (How are you? / Is everything all right?)
• Ça marche. (It works / Okay.)
• Ça s’est bien passé. (It went well.)

Impersonal does not mean “present tense only”. You can change the tense when the meaning and the verb allow it, but the subject remains il and the verb remains third-person singular.

Here is falloir in several useful tenses:

Weather expressions also change tense naturally:

• Il pleuvait quand je suis sortie. (It was raining when I went out.)
• Il a neigé toute la nuit. (It snowed all night.)
• Il va faire chaud demain. (It is going to be hot tomorrow.)

If you would like to review when to use each tense, see the French tenses you need to know.