j'

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "j"

Franco-Provençal

Pronoun

j'

  1. Prevocalic clipping of je

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʒ‿/
  • IPA(key): (before unvoiced consonant) /ʃ‿/
  • Audio:(file)

Pronoun

j’

  1. clitic form of je
    J’ai sommeil. ― I’m sleepy.
    J’habite à Paris. ― I live in Paris.
    J’veux pas savoir. ― I don't wanna know. (informal, short for "Je ne veux pas savoir.")
    J’comprends. ― I understand. (informal, see usage notes for pronunciation

Usage notes

  • Je in formal French only becomes j’ before a vowel or an unaspirated h, where this is mandatory in spelling.
  • In informal French, j’ may optionally be used before consonants, and devoices before unvoiced consonants, thus producing a ʃ sound, as in sheep.
    • Before voiced consonants:
      J'vais bien. ― Doing fine.
      J'descend tout de suite! ― Coming down!
    • whereas before unvoiced consonants:
      Chais pas. (j'sais pas) ― Dunno.
      Ch'peux pas. (j'peux pas) ― I can't.
  • Note that the ch’ spelling (and the j’ spelling before a vowel) is purely oral, it is not used in any type of written content except if one wishes to emphasize the language register spoken or the form is in itself a fixed expression.
French personal pronouns
number person gender nominative
(subject) 		accusative
(direct complement) 		dative
(indirect complement) 		locative
(at) 		genitive
(of) 		disjunctive
(tonic)1 		emphatic
reflexive 		relative proximal distal
singular first — je, j’ me, m’ — — moi moi-même —
second — tu te, t’ — — toi toi-même —
third masculine il2 le, l’ lui y en lui lui-même celui celui-ci celui-là
feminine elle la, l’ elle elle-même celle celle-ci celle-là
indeterminate on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça — — — — — — ce ceci cela, ça
reflexive — se, s’5 — — soi soi-même —
plural first — nous nous — — nous nous-mêmes —
second6 — vous vous — — vous vous-mêmes,
vous-même6 		—
third masculine ils7 les leur y en eux7 eux-mêmes7 ceux ceux-ci ceux-là
feminine elles elles elles-mêmes celles celles-ci celles-là

1 The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d‘, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
2 Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
3 On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
4 The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
5 The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
6 Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
7 Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

Further reading

Neapolitan

Pronunciation

Pronoun

j’

  1. clitic form of jo, je, ie, io
    J’ t’amo
    I love you
    J’ te voglio bene assaje
    I want/love you very much
    J’aggio parlat' a tte
    I spoke to you
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