pronoun

me

myself · me

C'est un mot que l'on utilise pour parler de soi-même, la personne qui parle.

Definition & meaning

Me is a French unstressed object pronoun referring to the speaker: “me,” “to me,” or, in reflexive use, “myself.” Its exact meaning depends on the verb:

Direct object: Il me voit — “He sees me.” [Il me voit ]
Indirect object: Elle me parle — “She speaks to me.” [Elle me parle ]
Reflexive object: Je me lave — “I wash myself.” [Je me lave ]

Grammar & Word origin

Me is a first-person singular clitic pronoun. It usually appears before a conjugated verb, or before an infinitive when it is the object of that infinitive: Il veut me voir (“He wants to see me”). [Il veut me voir ]

Before a verb beginning with a vowel or a silent h, me contracts to m’: Il m’aime (“He loves me”). [m’aime ]

In affirmative commands, the corresponding form is usually moi, placed after the verb: Regarde-moi (“Look at me”). [Regarde-moi ] In negative commands, me goes before the verb: Ne me regarde pas (“Don’t look at me”). [Ne me regarde pas ]

The word descends from Latin me, the accusative form of the first-person pronoun.

Synonyms & antonyms

There is no direct synonym or antonym: me is a grammatical pronoun, and its reference changes with the speaker.

Moi is the stressed or emphatic form of “me” (or “I”), used in contexts such as Moi, je sais (“I know”). [Moi, je sais ] It is related in meaning but is not generally interchangeable with me in ordinary object-pronoun position.