• We use pronouns to replace nouns in sentences so that our speech is less repetitive.
Example:
The dog is called Marta.
John likes the dog .
John gives a biscuit to the dog .
These 3 sentences repeat the word ‘dog’ and ‘John’ several times: this sounds too heavy.
We can use pronouns to make it less heavy.

Let’s replace the repetitions with pronouns!
The 3 sentences above then become:
The dog is called Marta.
John likes her .
He gives her a biscuit.
In these sentences, the pronoun he replaces
John and the pronoun her replaces the noun the dog .

There are several kinds of pronouns: for now, we will discuss subject pronouns and object pronouns.
1) Subject pronouns: they replace nouns that are used as subjects (the ones that do the action) in a sentence.
You already know these very well:
Je, tu , il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils, elles
In the previous example, John was replaced by the subject pronoun he which is il in French:
John aime la chienne, il lui donne un biscuit.

2) Object pronouns: they replace nouns that are used as objects in a sentence.
Let’s see again our previous example:
John likes the dog . John gives a biscuit to the dog .
‘ the dog ’ is the object of the sentence and can then be replaced by the object pronoun ‘ her ’:
John likes her . John gives her a biscuit.

• Her (and him in the masculine) has two equivalents in
French.
• Which one you use depends on whether it is a direct object pronoun or an indirect object pronoun: a) indirect object pronouns in French are: me/te/nous/vous ( me/you/us/you in English) and lui/leur ( him/her/them in English) b) direct object pronouns are: me/te/nous/vous (also me/you/us/you in English) and le/la/l’/les ( also him/her/them in English)

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS
• Indirect object pronouns replace indirect object nouns. An indirect object consists of the preposition to
+ animate noun which in French is à + animate noun (a noun referring to a person/a living being).
Let’s take again our previous example, but in French this time:
John likes the dog .
John aime la chienne .
In this sentence, there is no à (no to in English) so ‘the dog’ cannot be an indirect object.

Now let’s see our other sentence:
John gives a biscuit to the dog .
John donne un biscuit à la chienne .
In this sentence, the object la chienne is preceded by à so à la chienne is an indirect object and can be replaced by lui (both for feminine and masculine nouns):
John lui donne un biscuit.

Lui is then used to replace to him/to her .
Leur is used to replace to them .
English
Indirect Object
Pronoun
Masculine
Singular
Indirect Object
Pronoun
Feminine
Singular
Indirect Object
Pronoun
Plural to him to her to them
French lui lui leur

Position of the pronouns:
Please note the position of the pronoun:
John lui donne un biscuit.
It is always placed just before the verb. (Note: donne is the verb donner conjugated at the present tense).

1) à in front of a masculine noun becomes au
Example:
à + le chien = au chien
Let’s look at the following sentence:
John donne un biscuit au chien .
Here, au chien is an indirect object noun as à is included in au . We can then replace au chien with lui :
John lui donne un biscuit.

2) à in front of a plural noun becomes aux
Example:
à + les chiens = aux chiens
So aux chiens is an indirect object noun. As it is a plural noun, it can be replaced with leur :
John donne un biscuit aux chiens = John leur donne un biscuit.

Replace the Indirect Object Pronouns with LUI or LEUR
1. Le week-end, je rends visite à mon copain.
Remember!: The Indirect Object pronouns
(LUI/LEUR) replace
à + nouns repesenting PEOPLE

1. 1. Le week-end, je rends visite à mon copain.
à mon copain is singular
Réponse: Le week-end, je lui rends visite.

2. Pendant les vacances, je rends visite à mes cousins.
à mes cousins is plural
Réponse: Pendant les vacances, je leur rends visite.

3. Tu écris souvent à tes grands-parents.
à tes grands-parents is plural
Réponse: Tu leur écris souvent.

4. Nous demandons des conseils
(advice) à notre mère.
à notre mère is singular
Réponse: nous lui demandons des conseils.

• À vous de faire les exercices! (Now it is your turn to do the exercises on your own): see
Finalsite for your homework instructions and exercise sheet.
• Bonne chance 

• Whilst lui/leur are used to replace to him/to her
(third person pronouns), me/te/nous/vous are used to replace: me to me (1 st person singular pronoun) te nous vous to you (2 nd pers. singular pronoun) to us (1 st person plural pronoun) to you (2 nd person plural pronoun)

• He is speaking to me .
Il me parle.
• He is speaking to you .
Il te parle.
• He is speaking to us.
Il nous parle.
• He is speaking to you (plural).
Il vous parle

• You can notice from the previous examples that the 1 st and 2 nd person pronouns me/te/nous/vous are also
(here the verb ‘parler’) like the pronouns lui/leur.
• Now let’s see where the pronouns are placed when there is more than one part to the verb in a sentence. How do you know before which part of the verb to place the pronoun?

POSITION OF PRONOUNS IN THE ‘FUTURE PROCHE’
• In the ‘future proche’, the verb looks like this: verb ‘aller’ (present tense) + infinitive
(first part of the verb) (second part)
In this case, the OBJECT pronoun will be placed in front of the INFINITIVE part of the verb.
(This is not true for subject pronouns which always come before the conjugated part of the verb)!
Example: Here is the verb ‘parler’ conjugated in the futur proche
Il va parler Il va te parler

• The rule is:
When there is an infinitive in a sentence, the pronoun is placed BEFORE the infinitive
This is also true when the verb is not conjugated in the ‘futur proche’ but is using an infinitive structure:
Example: with the verb ‘aimer’ in the construction ‘aimer + infinitive ’
Il aime parler Il aime me parler
(He likes to speak) (He likes to speak to me)

• Est-ce que tu vas nous téléphoner ce soir?
Oui, . . . . je vais vous téléphoner .
• Est-ce que les étudiants m'écoutent?
Oui, . . . . ils t’ écoutent .
• Est-ce que nous te rencontrons à midi?
Non, . . . .
vous ne me rencontrez pas.

• À vous de faire les exercices! (Now it is your turn to do the exercises on your own): see
Finalsite for your homework instructions and exercise sheet.
• Bonne chance 

• In the imperative, the pronoun is not placed before but AFTER THE VERB.
Example:
Envoie un message à Paul !
Envoie lui un message!
• However, in the negative, the pronoun is placed BEFORE THE VERB.
Example:
N’ envoie pas de message à Paul !
Ne lui envoie pas de message!

• In the passé composé, the pronoun is placed
BEFORE THE CONJUGATED PART OF THE VERB, that is, the auxiliary verb ‘avoir’ or ‘être’.
Example:
1) J’ ai envoyé un message à Paul .
Je lui ai envoyé un message.
2) Je n’ ai pas envoyé de message à Paul .
Je ne lui ai pas envoyé de message.