Object Pronouns
| Subject | Direct Object | Indirect Object | Disjunctives | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | I | me (muh) | me | me | to me | moi (mwah) | me |
| tu | you | te(tuh) | you | te | to you | toi (twah) | you |
| il | he | le | him | lui (lwee) | to him | lui | him |
| elle | she | la | her | lui | to her | elle | her |
| nous | we | nous | us | nous | to us | nous | us |
| vous | you | vous | you | vous | to you | vous | you |
| ils | they | les | them | leur | to them | eux (uh) | them |
| elles | they | les | them | leur | to them | elles | them |
Note: You have already learned the subject pronouns. They
go before the conjugated verb forms. The Direct and Indirect Object
pronouns go before the verb even though in English they go after it.
They also go after the ne in a negative sentence and right before
the verb. The disjunctive always go after prepositions, or can be
used alone for emphasis.
Sample Sentences:
| I buy some pants. | J'achète des pantalons. |
| I buy them. | Je les achète. |
| I give the box to you. | Je vous donne la boîte. |
| I give it to you. | Je vous la donne. |
| After you. (familiar) | Après toi. |
| We go with her. | Nous allons avec elle. |
| He doesn't leave her. | Il ne la quitte pas. |
| He leaves her. | Il la quitte. |
| I love you. | Je t'aime. or Je vous aime. |
| She doesn't love him. | Elle ne l'aime pas. |
Note: When you have more than one pronoun; me, te, nous,
or vous come first, then le, la, or les, then lui
or leur. Me, te, le, and la contract to m',
t', and l' when they precede a vowel, the same way je does.
In commands, the pronouns go after the verb, connected with a hyphen.
And the pronoun order changes a little too: Le, la, or
les come first; then moi, toi, (Me and te become moi and toi
in commands) nous, or vous; then lui, or leur.
If you have pronouns, they go before the complete verb in regular
sentences; but after the ne and before the form of avoir in
negative sentences.
| Nous lui avons parlé. | We spoke to him/her. |
| Vous en avez écouté trois. | You've listened to three of them. |
| Je t'ai demandé du pain. | I asked you for some bread. |
| Il ne l'a pas aimé. | He didn't like it/her/him. |
| Tu n'y as pas habité. | You didn't live there. |
| Je ne vous ai pas parlé. | I didn't speak (or haven't spoken) to you. |
| Nous ne l'avons pas fini. | We didn't finish (or haven't finished) it. |
In the passé composé with avoir, direct object
pronouns only must agree in gender and number with the past participle.
| Je les ai aimés. | I liked them. |
| Il l'a regardée. | He watched her. |
| Elles nous ont écouté(e)s. | They listened to us. |
Note: Add an e if the pronoun is feminine, and an
s if it is plural. The l' could mean him or her,
so you might not need to put the extra e on the past participle.
The same for nous and vous. They must have an s because
they are plural, but it is unclear as to whether they are masculine or feminine.
This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages
