Download Explanation Object Pronouns (complements)

Explanation
Object Pronouns (complements)
Direct Object Pronouns
Me= me
Te= you (familiar)
Se= himself, herself, itself, themselves
Nous= us
Vous= you (formal and plural)
le= him, it
la= her,it
l’ before a vowel
l’ before a vowel
les= them
Samples- Jean lit le livre. Jean le lit.
Pierre regarde les enfants. Pierre les regarde.
Nous lisons l’histoire. Nous la lisons.
Je préfère cette musique. Je la préfère.
Indirect Object Pronouns
Me= à moi = me or to me
Te= à toi= you or to you ( singular.familiar)
lui= à + one person or “living/running”
thing= to him or to her
leur= à + more than one person or
“living/running” thing
= to them
Se= to himself/herself, to each other, to themselves
Nous= à nous= us or to us/each other
Vous= à vous you or to you ( formal or plural)/each other
Samples- Je parle à Jean-Pierre. Je lui parle.
Nous donnons la lettre aux filles. Nous leur donnons la lettre.
*Easy identification of indirect objects in French because the indirect objects are preceded by
the preposition à
**Contrary to English the following verbs always take a direct object- écouter, payer,
regarder, chercher, demander, attendre. The reason here is that the preposition is included in
the verb meaning. And the following verbs always take an indirect object répondre, obéir,
désobéir… The reason is they always have an à with them!
You may think it does not matter if the pronoun object is direct or indirect, but it does because
the past participle of a compound tense verb AGREES in number in gender with direct
objects before the verb but NOT with indirect objects!
Pronoun Y
*Replaces a prepositional phrase introduced by any preposition other than de when the noun
object of the phrase is a THING or a place is implied.
Y= there, in/at/to it/them (ideas or things)
Samples- Il entre dans la salle de classe. Il y entre.
Je réponds à ta lettre. J’y réponds.
Pronoun En
*Replaces a prepositional phrase introduced by de or the partitive article de la, du, des, de l’
and its noun and descriptors.
Samples- Use in a prepositional sense. Nous venons de New York. Nous en venons.
Use in a partitive sense. J’ ai du pain. J’en ai.
Use with expressions followed by de. Elle parle de son livre. Elle en parle.
Use with expressions of amount. Elle a beaucoup d’argent. Elle en a beaucoup.
Also, use this pronoun after numbers or amounts if you don’t have de but you mean of them=
ex. Il a dix livres. Il en a dix.
Tu as plusieurs livres. Tu en as plusieurs.
Explanation
Placement of Object Pronouns
Personal object pronouns are placed immediately BEFORE the verb they come after in
English ! Remember that a past participle is never alone, so the placement is before the
helping verb! Exception- The rule does NOT apply in affirmative commands!!!
Object pronouns can Never be separated from the verb and should sit immediately in front of
the verb. Therefore, the negative word ne must back up to accommodate the object
pronouns!
Je ne regarde pas la jolie fille blonde!
Ils n’ont pas trouvé la bonne réponse.
below.
Je ne la regarde pas !
Ils ne l’ont pas trouvée. See agreement note
*If a direct object pronoun precedes a French verb in any compound tense (auxiliary or
helping verb) + a past participle) the participle agrees in number and gender with the
preceding direct object. Nous avons reçu les coups de téléphone. Nous les avons reçus.
More than one object to be replaced ?
The complements remain before the verb, but the French observe a precise order.
Memorize:
Me
le
lui
y
en
Te
la
leur
Se
les
Nous
Vous
The placement and order for pronouns changes for affirmative commands only and exactly
matches the English equivalent.
This will covered in a separate note page.