The mysterious pronoun “soi"
Comment différencier “soi,” “soi-même” et “en soi”
A little quiz: Do you understand these French sentences?
Cela va de soi
La vie devant soi
En soi, ce n’est pas très difficile
Il ne faut pas s’apitoyer sur soi-même
If you didn’t, you need to read today’s instalment!
Let’s talk a little bit about the third person construction with the word soi.
Soi is a stressed pronoun, used for emphasis. It’s only used for indefinite, unspecified persons. It can roughly translate as oneself but also mean:
People
They
Themselves
You
Yourself
Yourselves
For example
Dans la vie, il faut regarder devant soi
In life, you have to look ahead
Cela va de soi
It goes without saying
Il faut rester chez soi
You have to stay home
To better understand the word soi, let’s just rewrite the same examples in the first person.
Je dois regarder devant moi
Je dois rester chez moi
Cela va de soi is impossible to translate in the first person, because it only applies to generalities. But it means: it goes without saying.
There is a famous book by Romain Gary called La vie devant soi.
In English, the translator chose instead: The life before us.
Soi is more indefinite than us, but the translation is accurate. It wouldn’t have sounded good to translate to “Life ahead of oneself.”
Soi-même
Soi-même is similar to soi, but it’s more personal. It is the third person of moi-même (myself).
Il ne faut pas s’apitoyer sur soi-même
We must not feel sorry for ourselves
On doit le faire soi-même
You have to do it yourself. (Literally: one has to do it by oneself)
Je vais le faire par moi-même
I’m going to do it by myself
Il faut le faire par soi-même
You have to do it by yourself
En soi
En soi, means in itself, or by itself, or in and of itself.
Travailler depuis l'étranger n'est pas une révolution en soi, ce mode de travail alternatif tendant à se démocratiser de plus en plus
Working abroad isn't a revolution in itself, but this alternative way of working is becoming increasingly popular
La situation en soi n’était pas si dramatique
The situation, in and of itself, was not so dramatic
C’est un processus en soi
It's a process in itself
C’est un travail en soi
It's a job in itself
En soi, ce n’est pas très difficile, mais il faut quand même apprendre des choses
On its own, it's not very difficult, but you still have to learn a few things
Exercise
Choose between soi, soi-même and en soi.
10 façons d’améliorer son estime de ______________.
10 ways to improve your self-esteem.
C'est difficile de laisser le passé derrière ______________.
It's hard to leave the past behind.
Ce conférencier souligne l’importance de s'aimer ______________.
This speaker emphasizes the importance of loving yourself.
Prendre le train, déjà une aventure ______________.
Taking the train is an adventure in itself!
Tarte aux pommes: voici nos conseils pour la préparer ______________.
Here are our tips for making your own apple pie.
Comment faire son recyclage ______________.
How to recycle yourself.
Voici comment prendre soin de ______________ mentalement et physiquement.
Here's how to take care of yourself mentally and physically.
La guerre est devenue une fin ______________.
War has become an end in itself.
Il est préférable d’ajouter ______________ la quantité de sucre désirée à ses boissons.
It's best to add the desired amount of sugar to your drinks yourself.
Le talent n'a rien de miraculeux ______________.
Being talented isn't a miracle in itself.