A2 · The pronouns
Object pronouns: le, lui
Before the verb — and English uses one word where French uses two.
At a glance
- Remember
- The preposition belongs to the French verb, not to yours.
- Form
- me, te, le, la, nous, vous, lesdirect
- Signal words
- le
- la
- les
- lui
- leur
- Trap
- Wrong:Je le téléphone ce soir.Right:Je lui téléphone ce soir.
Your turn
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The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in French.
negation
| direct | me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les |
| indirect | me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur |
| I see him. | Je le vois. |
| I speak to him. | Je lui parle. |
| I do not know her. | Je ne les connais pas. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb.
Je te vois demain.I will see you tomorrow.
Before a vowel me, te, le, la become m’, t’, l’.
Je l’attends.I am waiting for him.
With two verbs it goes before the second one.
Je vais le faire.I am going to do it.
The indirect object for people is lui and leur.
Je leur ai écrit.I have written to them.
Example sentences
Ce livre ? Je l’ai déjà lu.That book? I have already read it.
Tu me téléphones ce soir ?Are you phoning me tonight?
Nous leur avons donné l’adresse.We gave them the address.
Je ne la connais pas.I do not know her.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English marks the difference with a preposition and French marks it with a different word, and the two do not line up. «Phone him» has no «to» and is je lui téléphone; «wait for him» has «for» and is je l'attends. Learning attendre and téléphoner à with their prepositions attached is the only reliable way through, because translating the English preposition gets it wrong both times.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The direct object takes no preposition: me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les. The indirect one goes with à: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur. English has a single set — «him» is «him» in «I see him» and in «I speak to him» — so where English has one word, French makes you pick between le and lui.
Both stand before the conjugated verb, including in the negative: je ne le vois pas. English puts the object after the verb without exception, so every sentence in this section has to be assembled in the other order.
Whether a verb takes a direct or an indirect object is a property of the French verb, and English is no guide. téléphoner à is indirect even though English says «phone somebody» with no preposition at all; attendre is direct even though English says «wait for somebody».
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The verbs on this page, in every form: avoir · faire · voir · aller · écrire · attendre · lire · connaître