Object pronouns

What you will practice

• Choose le, la, les, lui, and leur for the object of the verb.
• Keep me or te before le or la, and those before lui.
• Leave the pronouns before the verb inside ne...pas.

Explanation

Direct and indirect

In these sentences, the object pronoun stands before the conjugated verb. A direct object is what the verb acts on: je le vois, je la vois, je les vois. le is masculine and la is feminine. Both become l' before a vowel: je l'aime. An indirect object replaces the person after à. je lui parle means I speak to him or to her, and je leur parle means I speak to them. lui covers both genders. leur adds no s.

Order

The pronouns me, te, nous, and vous work as direct or indirect objects: tu me vois, je te parle. In these statements the order is fixed. me or te comes before le or la, then that form comes before lui. nous and vous share the first slot, les the second, and leur the third. Je te le donne means I give it to you. Je le lui donne means I give it to him or her. Skip y and en.

Negation

In a negative sentence the pronouns stay before the verb, inside ne...pas. Je ne le vois pas means I do not see him, or I do not see it. Je ne lui parle pas means I do not speak to that person. Two pronouns stay together in the same place: Je ne le lui donne pas. Negation does not change their order. Speech may drop ne. In writing, keep ne before the pronoun and pas after the verb.

Examples

1. Je le vois.I see him, or I see it.
2. Je lui parle.I speak to him, or to her.
3. Je le lui donne.I give it to him, or to her.
4. Je ne le vois pas.I do not see him, or it.
5. Je te le donne.I give it to you.

Common mistakes

• Je lui le donne reverses the order. le comes before lui: Je le lui donne.
• lui means to him or to her. The feminine direct object is la, not a second form of lui.