j'

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.

Related terms

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

• “j'”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Neapolitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/, /j/

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