If you're not sure whether or not to use cela, celui, y, or en. . .then you need online French pronoun practice!
Where to Find Online French Pronoun Practice
One of the best ways to solidify newly found language skills is with online French pronoun practice. With these online sites, one can practice at their own leisure, and they can utilize a variety of tools, so that they don't get bored. Here's a closer look at what's available:
Language Guide
At Language Guide.org, one can find a variety of educational tools. The site itself walks you through:
- Subject Pronouns
- Object Pronouns
- Object Pronoun Order
- Disjunctive Pronouns
- Possessive Pronouns
When it comes to practice, choose between:
- C'est vs. Il est: In this section, the student is presented with a fairly lengthy paragraph, complete with "blanks" or missing spaces. Within these missing spaces, one must choose between c'est and il est to correctly complete the paragraph.
- Possessive Pronoun Practice: This paragraph is very similar to the one highlighted above, the only exception being the the prompt; for example, "mine" or "ours", follows each sentence.
The University of Virginia
The University of Virginia provides extensive French pronoun practice that is immensely helpful to anyone looking to increase their foreign language skills. In the Pronoun section, you'll find:
- On/Nous: Here, the user is given a total of eight sentences. Each sentence comes equipped with three possible answers, where "on" either equals nous, quelqu'un or les gens. It is up to you to choose the right pronoun. The great part about this practice piece is that feedback and explanations are provided.
- On vs. Il: This practice session is presented in paragraph form and one has the option of seeing the answers and/or clearing the answers.
- Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns: Four different practice tests are available in this section and all the pronouns from le, la, to lui, leur are covered. The last section of this practice includes a "conversation" between two friends. The student is prompted to select either le, la, les, l', lui,leur, y and en. At this stage of the game, even the directions are presented in French, so instead of "show the responses"; you'll see "montrer les résponses".
- Relative Pronouns: The Relative Pronouns section begins with a review of the relative pronouns, and from there, it's on to practice sessions that include identifying famous people, some practice writing, and identifying famous place.
All in all, this is a very thorough site, where once one has finished the pronoun practice, one can explore several other categories, including:
- Questions
- Polite Requests
- Telling Time
- Saying hello/giving information about yourself
- Verb Conjugation
- Vocabulary
Columbia University
Several online French practice drills are available at Columbia University's site, including direct and indirect object pronouns. This practice section really does look like a test because each question contains a drop-down menu (within the question itself) with three options. From there, the student chooses and answers. If the answers selected are incorrect, the student will be told so, but don't worry as comprehensive explanations are provided.
Supplemental Tools
If you'd like to have a supplemental tool to help in your online pronoun practice, try French Pronouns and Prepositions by Annie Heminway. While it's true that one can find several French pronoun practice drills online, it always helps to have more learning options at your disposal.
Additionally, you can also try French Grammar Drills by Eliane Kurbegov. This book not only promises over 150 grammar drills to help you inoculate all of your new found knowledge, but it also provides several drills on pronouns. In general, this may be a very helpful addition to your foreign language library as you'll not only have the chance to practice those pronouns, but if the mood strikes, practicing the other aspects of French grammar will also be a breeze. You can expect to pay about $11.00 for this book.
