Direct objects are the people or things in a sentence which receive the action of the
verb. To find the direct object in a sentence, ask the question Who? or What?
I see Pierre.
Je vois Pierre.
Who do I see? Pierre.
I'm eating the bread
Je mange le pain.
What am I eating? - Bread.
Direct object pronouns are the words that replace the direct object, 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 French
direct object pronouns are
me / m' me
te / t' you
le / l' him, it
la / l' her, it
nous us
vous you
les them
Me and te change to m' and t', respectively, in front of a vowel or mute H. Le and la
both change to l'.
Like indirect object pronouns, French direct object pronouns are placed in front of the
verb.
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.
Indirect objects are the people or things in a sentence to or for whom/what* 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.
*"For" only in the sense of a recipient (I bought the gift for you), not when it means "on
behalf of" (he speaks for all the members).
Indirect object pronouns are the words that replace the indirect object, and in French
they can only refer to a person or other animate noun.(1) The French indirect object
pronouns are
me / m' me
te / t' you
lui him, her
nous us
vous you
leur them
Me and te change to m' and t', respectively, in front of a vowel or mute H.
Like direct object pronouns, French indirect object pronouns are usually(2) 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.
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.
Remember that there are two kinds of imperatives, affirmative and negative, and the word order
is different for each of them.
Negative imperatives are easier, because their word order is the same as that of all other simple
verb conjugations: any object, reflexive, and/or adverbial pronouns precede the verb and the
negative structure surrounds the pronoun(s) + verb:
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 commands are more complicated, for several reasons.
1. The word order is for affirmative commands is different from that of all other verb
tenses/moods: any pronouns follow the verb and are connected to it and to each other with
hyphens.
Finis-le ! - Finish it!
Allons-y ! - Let's go!
Mangez-les ! - Eat them!
Donne-lui-en ! - Give him some!
2. The order of the pronouns in affirmative commands is slightly different from all other verb
tenses/moods (see table at the bottom of the page):
Envoie-le-nous ! - Send it to us!
Expliquons-la-leur ! - Let's explain it to them!
Donnez-nous-en ! - Give us some!
Donne-le-moi ! - Give it to me!
3. The pronouns me and te change to the stressed pronouns moi and toi...
Lève-toi ! - Get up!
Parlez-moi ! - Talk to me!
Dis-moi ! - Tell me!
...unless they are followed by y or en, in which case they contract to m' and t'
Va-t'en ! - Go away!
Faites-m'y penser. - Remind me about it.
4. When a tu command is followed by the pronouns y or en, the final s is not dropped from the
verb conjugation:
Vas-y ! - Go away!
Parles-en. - Talk about it.
le
la
les
Order of pronouns for affirmative imperative
moi / m'
nous
toi / t'
vous
y
lui
leur
en
Order of pronouns for negative imperative
(and all other tenses and moods)
me
te
se
nous
vous
le
la
les
lui
y
leur
en