Download to them

Les pronoms direct: le, la, les
The direct object: to find the direct object of
the sentence ask the question “what” or “who”
of the verb.
I’m going to buy the blue shirt
shirt.
What are you going to buy?
The blue shirt = it
The Basic Outline
Direct object pronouns in French can be quite
easy to find as they are the same as the
definite article:
le (l’)
him / it
la (l’)
her / it
les
them
Est-ce que tu achète la robe?
robe
Oui, je l’ achète.
The Basic Outline
Quoi?
Placing the direct object pronoun:
1. In a simple sentence with one conjugated verb
(present, imperfect, future, present subjunctive)
the pronoun will go before the verb.
1. Je rends le livre.
Je le rends.
2. In a sentence with the helping verbs “devoir”,
“aller”, “il faut”, “aimer”, “détester”, etc., the
pronoun goes before the infinitive.
2. J’aime lire les journaux.
The Basic Outline
J’aime les lire.
Placing the direct object pronoun:
3. In a negative command, the pronoun will go
before the verb.
3. Ne prends pas la cuillère!
Ne la prends pas!
4. In a postive command, the pronoun will be
attached to the verb with a hyphen.
4. Apporte les disques!
The Basic Outline
Apporte-les!
Placing the direct object pronoun:
5. In the passé composé, the pronoun will go
before the helping verb “avoir” or “être”.
5. J’ai acheté le journal.
Je l’ai acheté.
CAUTION! In the passé composé you must make
the past participle agree with the direct object
placed before “avoir” or “être”.
J’ai envoyé la lettre.
The Basic Outline
Je l’ai envoyée.
Placing the direct object pronoun:
6. In negative sentences,
place the direct object in front of the verb and
move the “ne” to the left.
6. Je ne vois pas la jeune fille.
The Basic Outline
Je ne la vois pas.
Les pronoms indirect: lui, leur
The indirect object: to find the indirect object
of the sentence ask the question “to whom” or
“for whom” of the verb.
I am going to write to my cousins.
To whom am I going to write?
To my cousins = to them
The Basic Outline
Indirect object pronouns in French can be quite
easy to find as they are introduced by “à” plus a
noun designating a person:
lui
to him / to her
leur
to them
Est-ce que tu reponds à Paul
Paul?
Oui, je lui réponds.
The Basic Outline
A qui?
Placing the indirect object pronoun:
1. In a simple sentence with one conjugated verb
(present, imperfect, future, present subjunctive)
the pronoun will go before the verb.
1. Je rends le livre à Paul.
Je lui rends le livre.
2. In a sentence with the helping verbs “devoir”,
“aller”, “il faut”, “aimer”, “détester”, etc., the
pronoun goes before the infinitive.
2. J’aime téléphoner à mes copains.
J’aime leur téléphoner.
The Basic Outline
Placing the indirect object pronoun:
3. In a negative command, the pronoun will go
before the verb.
3. Ne parles pas à Paul!
Ne lui parles pas!
4. In a positive command, the pronoun will be
attached to the verb with a hyphen.
4. Parlez à Paul et Marie!
The Basic Outline
Parlez-leur!
Placing the indirect object pronoun:
5. In the passé composé, the pronoun will go
before the helping verb “avoir” or “être”.
5. J’ai écrit a mon amie.
The Basic Outline
Je lui ai écrit.
Other considerations…
1. Écouter (to listen to), regarder (to look at),
chercher (to look for), attendre (to wait for) and
demander (to ask for) take the direct object in
French. In English they take the indirect. This is
not so hard to remember as, in French, these
verbs are not followed by “à” which introduces
the indirect object.
J’écoute Marie-Laure.
The Basic Outline
Je l’ecoute
Other considerations…
2. Even though “penser à” is followed by “à”, it
does not take the indirect object pronoun but
rather prepositional pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle,
nous, vous, eux, elles).
Je pense à mes amis.
Je pense à eux.
3. “répondre”, “obéir”, “désobéir” take an indirect
object pronoun in French, In English they take a
direct object pronoun. (Again, not so hard to
remember as in French they are followed by “à”
which introduces the indirect object.)
J’obéis a mon père.
The Basic Outline
Je lui obéis.
me, te, nous, vous…
The pronouns “me”, “te”, “nous” and “vous” are both direct
and indirect so there no problem deciding which to use!
Mary sees me (direct).
Marie me voit.
Mary speaks to me (indirect).
The Basic Outline
Marie me parle.