French Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns: Chart and Rules

French object pronouns go before the verb: Je le vois. (I see him.) Le, la and les replace a direct object; lui and leur replace à + a person. The whole system on one screen:

• Je le vois. - I see him.
• Je lui parle. - I'm talking to him (or her).

Only the third person splits. Lui covers both him and her, and leur never takes an s.

Direct object pronouns: le, la, les

A direct object follows the verb with no preposition. Swap it for a pronoun and the pronoun jumps in front of the verb.

• Je vois Marie. - I see Marie. So: Je la vois. - I see her.
• Je regarde le film. - I'm watching the film. So: Je le regarde. - I'm watching it.

Le and la mean it as well as him and her: the pronoun takes the gender of the noun, so la voiture gives je la vois (I see it). Me, te, nous and vous work the same way:

• Il me voit. - He sees me.
• Elle nous attend. - She's waiting for us.

In a negative sentence, ne goes in front of the pronoun and pas after the verb:

• Je ne le vois pas. - I don't see him.

The m' / t' / l' elision

Before a vowel or a silent h, me, te, le and la lose their vowel. This is compulsory.

• Je t'aime. - I love you.
• Il m'attend. - He's waiting for me.
• Je l'attends. - I'm waiting for him (or her).

Lui, nous, vous, leur and les never shorten: je lui écris (I'm writing to him), je les aime (I love them).

Indirect object pronouns: lui, leur

An indirect object is à + a person. Replace the whole of it with lui (one person) or leur (more than one):

123

1. 1Paul
2. 2le livre
3. 3à Marie

Paul donne le livre à Marie. The book is the direct object; Marie, after à, the indirect object.

• Je parle aux enfants. - I'm talking to the children. So: Je leur parle. - I'm talking to them.
• Je donne le livre à Paul. - I'm giving the book to Paul. So: Je lui donne le livre. - I'm giving him the book.

In the last example the book stays where it was, and only à Paul becomes lui.

Leur the pronoun is not the possessive leurs. A pronoun before a verb never takes an s: Je leur parle. (I'm talking to them.)

Which one does the verb want?

The verb decides, not the English. Most verbs take a direct object; a group of verbs about speaking and giving take à before the person. Four common verbs trick English speakers because English adds a preposition that French does not have:

• Je regarde Marie. - I'm looking at Marie. So: Je la regarde.
• Je réponds à Paul. - I'm answering Paul. So: Je lui réponds.

The common à verbs are the speaking and giving verbs:

Learn each verb with its à attached.

With an infinitive: je vais le voir

When a verb is followed by an infinitive, the pronoun goes before the infinitive, the verb it belongs to:

• Je vais le voir demain. - I'm going to see him tomorrow.
• Tu peux lui parler ? - Can you talk to him?
• Elle doit nous attendre. - She has to wait for us.

Two pronouns together

When a sentence has both a direct and an indirect pronoun, the order is fixed:

• Il me le donne. - He gives it to me.
• Je te les envoie. - I'm sending them to you.
• Je le lui donne. - I give it to him.

The classic crash is the two third-person pronouns: it is always le lui, never lui le.

In the passé composé

In the passé composé, the pronoun goes before the auxiliary, not the participle. A direct pronoun also makes the participle agree with it:

• Je l'ai vu. - I saw him.
• Je l'ai vue. - I saw her.
• Je les ai vus. - I saw them.
• Je lui ai parlé. - I spoke to him. (indirect: no agreement)

The extra -e and -s are silent here, so the agreement is a rule for writing. The full rule is on avoir or être.

Commands: the exception

A positive command puts the pronoun after the verb with a hyphen, and me becomes moi: Donne-moi le livre ! (Give me the book!) A negative command puts it back in front: Ne me donne pas le livre ! The imperative page has the details.

Common mistakes English speakers make

The last row is a different set of words. After avec, pour or chez, French uses the stressed pronouns: Je pars avec lui. (I'm leaving with him.) And à + a thing becomes y, not lui.

What to do next

1. Take five sentences with a noun object and swap in le, la or les.
2. Learn parler à, donner à and téléphoner à as one block each.
3. Then read y and en, the last two pronouns in the queue.