Download Les Pronoms Objets

Les Pronoms Objets
Object pronouns replace nouns. There are two types:
1. Direct object pronouns (pronoms objets directs)
replace the people or things that receive the action
of the verb in a sentence.
2. Indirect object pronouns (pronoms objets indirects)
replace the people in a sentence to/for whom the
action of the verb occurs.
In addition, there are two adverbial pronouns, y and en,
which work in conjunction with the object pronouns:
1. Y replaces à (and most prepositions except for de) +
noun
2. En replaces de + noun
It is important to understand each of these concepts, because
they are very commonly used and without them there is a
certain "bulkiness" in French. Once you begin using object
and adverbial pronouns, your French will sound a lot more
natural.
Les Pronoms Objets Directs
me
nous
te
vous
le /la
les
Just like English, the French language has direct object
pronouns, words that replace the direct object.
This is so that we don't say things like "Marie was at the
bank today. When I saw Marie I smiled."
It's much more natural to say "Marie was at the bank today.
When I saw her I smiled."
The direct object is the person or thing that receives the
action of the verb in a sentence. To find the direct object in a
sentence, ask the question Who? or What?
I'm eating bread - Je mange du pain.
What am I eating? Bread.
He sees Marie - Il voit Marie.
Who does he see? Marie.
The French direct object pronouns are as follows:
me / m'
me
te / t'
you
le / l'
him, it (masc)
la / l'
her, it (fem)
nous
us
vous
you
les
them
Me, te, and le / la change to m', t', and l' in front of a vowel
or mute h.
The most difficult thing to remember about direct object
pronouns is this: they go in front of the verb in French.
I'm eating it. - Je le mange.
He sees her. - Il la voit.
I love you. - Je t'aime.
You love me. - Tu m'aimes.
Exception: In an affirmative command, they are placed
after the verb and attached to it with a hyphen.
Note: When deciding between direct and indirect objects, the
general rule is that if the person is preceded by a
preposition, that person is an indirect object. If it is not
preceded by a preposition, it is a direct object.
Les Pronoms Objets Indirects
Indirect objects are the people in a sentence to or for whom
the action of the verb occurs.
I'm talking to Pierre.
Je parle à Pierre.
To whom am I talking? To Pierre.
He buys books for the students
Il achète des livres pour les étudiants.
For whom does he buy books? - For the students.
Indirect object pronouns are the words that replace the
indirect object, and in French they can only refer to a
person.
(1) The French indirect object pronouns are:
me / m' to me
te / t' to you
lui to him, to her
nous to us
vous to you
leur to them
Like direct object pronouns, French indirect object pronouns
are usually placed in front of the verb.
I'm talking to him.
Je lui parle.
He buys books for them.
Il leur achète des livres.
I'm giving the bread to you.
Je vous donne le pain.
She wrote to me.
Elle m'a écrit.
Notes: When deciding between direct and indirect objects,
the general rule is that if the person or thing is preceded by a
preposition, that person/thing is an indirect object. (1) If it's
not preceded by a preposition, it is a direct object.
(1) In English, an indirect object can be a person or a thing.
In French, it can only be a person. When you have an
indirect object that's not a person in English, the French
equivalent is the adverbial pronoun “y”. So "pay attention to
him" would be “fais attention à lui”, but "pay attention to it
would be “fais-y attention”.
(2) With most verbs and in most tenses and moods, when the
indirect object pronoun is first or second person, it has to
precede the verb:
"He's talking to me" = Il me parle, not "Il parle à moi"
When the pronoun refers to the third person, you can use a
stressed pronoun after the verb and the preposition à in
order to stress the distinction between masculine and
feminine:
"I'm talking to her" = Je lui parle, à elle
(3) However, with some verbs the indirect object pronoun
has to follow the verb – for example:
In French, à plus a person can usually be replaced by an
indirect object pronoun:
J'ai donné le livre à mon frère - Je lui ai donné le livre
I gave the book to my brother - I gave him the book
Il parle à toi et à moi - Il nous parle
He's talking to you and me - He's talking to us
However, a few French verbs and expressions do not allow a
preceding indirect object pronoun that refers to a person.*
Instead, they require that you keep the preposition à after the
verb, and follow it with a stressed pronoun:
Fais attention à ton prof - Fais attention à lui
Pay attention to your teacher - Pay attention to him
Wrong: xx Fais-lui attention xx
Je pense à mes sœurs - Je pense à elles
I'm thinking about my sisters - I'm thinking about them
Wrong: xx Je leur pense xx
French verbs that don't allow a preceding indirect object
pronoun
en appeler à
to appeal to, address
avoir affaire à
to have to deal with
avoir recours à
to have recourse to
croire à
être à
to believe in
to belong to
faire appel à
to appeal to, address
faire allusion à
faire attention à
s'habituer à
penser à
to allude to
to pay attention to
to get used to
to think of, about
recourir à
to have recourse to
renoncer à
to give up, renounce
revenir à
rêver à
songer à
to come back to
to dream of
to think, dream of
tenir à
to be fond of, care about
venir à
to come to
*Note: When the indirect object is a thing, it can be replaced
with “y”, which can always precede the verb:
Fais attention à la leçon - Fais-y attention
Pay attention to the lesson - Pay attention to it
Je pense à nos vacances - J'y pense
I'm thinking about our vacation - I'm thinking about it
(4) The imperative has different rules for word order.
Ordre Des Mots Pour l’Impératif
The order of words in a French sentence can be very
confusing, due to affirmative and negative imperative
constructions and object and adverbial pronouns. This lesson
will teach you exactly how to order your sentences when
using the imperative.
The first thing you need to understand is that there are two
kinds of imperatives, and the word order is different for each
of them.
I.
Negative Imperatives
Negative imperatives are fairly easy to work with,
because their word order is the same as that of all other
simple verb conjugations:
Any object pronouns precede the verb and the negative
structure surrounds the pronoun(s) + verb:
II.
Finis !
Finish!
Ne finis pas !
Don't finish!
Ne le finis pas !
Don't finish it!
Lisez !
Read!
Ne lisez pas !
Don't read!
Ne le lisez pas !
Don't read it!
Ne me le lisez pas !
Don't read it to me!
Affirmative Imperatives
These are more complicated, for three reasons.
A. The word order is different from that of all other
verb tenses/moods: the pronouns follow the verb and
are connected to it and each other with hyphens.
Finis-le !
Finish it!
Allons-y !
Let's go!
Mangez-les !
Eat them!
Donne-lui-en !
Give him some!
B. The order of the pronouns in affirmative commands
is slightly different from all other verb tenses/moods:
le
m' / moi nous y en
la
t' / toi
vous
les
lui
leur
Envoie-le-nous !
Expliquons-la-leur !
Donnez-nous-en !
Send it to us!
Let's explain it to them!
Give us some!
C. The pronouns me and te change to moi and toi,
unless they are followed by y or en, in which case
they contract to m' and t'.
Lève-toi !
Get up!
Va-t'en !
Go away!
Parlez-moi !
Talk to me!
Les Pronoms Adverbiaux Y et En
The French adverbial pronouns y and en are so tiny that one
might think their role in a sentence is not very important, but
in fact quite the opposite is true. They are both extremely
important in French.
Y refers to a place that has already been mentioned; it is
normally translated by there in English. Y usually replaces a
prepositional phrase beginning with à, chez, dans, etc.
Tu vas à la banque
aujourd'hui ?
Non, j'y vais demain.
Are you going to the bank
today?
No, I'm going (there)
tomorrow.
Nous allons au magasin.
Tu veux y aller ?
We're going to the store.
Do you want to go (there)?
Il était chez Jean.
Il y était.
He was at Jean's house.
He was there.
Note that "there" can often be omitted in English, but y can
never be omitted in French. Je vais is not a complete
sentence; if you don't follow aller with a place, you have to
say J'y vais.
Y can also replace à + a noun that is not a person:
Je réponds à une lettre.
J'y réponds.
I'm responding to a letter.
I'm responding to it.
Il pense à notre voyage.
Il y pense.
He's thinking about our trip.
He's thinking about it.
Tu dois obéir à la loi.
Tu dois y obéir.
You have to obey the law.
You have to obey it.
When you want to replace à + a person, use an indirect
object.
Y also replaces à + something with verbs that need à. Note
that either à + something or its replacement y is required in
French, even though the equivalent may be optional in
English.
Oui, j'ai assisté à la réunion.
XX Oui, j'ai assisté XX
Oui, j'y ai assisté.
Yes, I attended the meeting.
Je vais réfléchir à votre
proposition.
XX Je vais réfléchir XX
Je vais y réfléchir.
I'm going to think about your
proposal.
Yes, I attended (it).
I'm going to think about it.
Note: Y usually cannot replace à + verb.
J'hésite à dire la vérité.
XX J'y hésite XX
J'hésite à la dire.
I hesitate to tell the truth.
--I hesitate to tell it.
Je continue à lire Balzac. I continue to read Balzac.
XX J'y continue XX
--Je continue à le lire.
I continue to read him.
Y is also found in the expression il y a
En replaces the partitive article (du, de la, etc.) or de + the
indefinite article (un, une, des) + a noun. It is equivalent to
some, any, or a number in English.
As-tu du pain ?
Oui, j'en ai.
Do you have any bread?
Yes, I have some.
Il a envie d'une pomme.
Il en a envie.
He wants an apple.
He wants one.
Je n'ai pas besoin d'un aide. I don't need an assistant.
Je n'en ai pas besoin.
I don't need one.
If there is a modifier like beaucoup de or a number in the
sentence, en replaces the noun and the modifier or number is
placed at the end of the sentence.
Il y a beaucoup de chambres.
Il y en a beaucoup.
There are a lot of rooms.
There are a lot (of them).
Je voudrais deux livres.
J'en voudrais deux.
I'd like two books.
I'd like two (of them).
Nous avons envie de 10 cahiers.
Nous en avons envie de 10.
We want 10 notebooks.
We want 10 (of them).
En also replaces de + something with verbs and expressions
that need de. Note that either de + something or its
replacement en is required in French, even though "about/of
it" is often optional in English.
Que penses-tu de mon idée ?
XX Que penses-tu ? XX
Qu'en penses-tu ?
What do you think about my
idea?
What do you think (about
it)?
Quelles sont les conséquences
de cette décision ?
XX Quelles sont les
conséquences ? XX
Quelles en sont les
conséquences ?
What are the consequences
of this decision?
What are the consequences
(of it)?
Note: En usually cannot replace de + verb.
J'ai décidé d'accepter son
offre.
XX J'en ai décidé XX
J'ai décidé de l'accepter.
I decided to accept his
offer.
--I decided to accept it.
J'ai oublié de laver la voiture.
XX J'en ai oublié XX
J'ai oublié de la laver.
I forgot to wash the car.
--I forgot to wash it.
Don't forget that en is also a preposition.