Object Pronouns — Lesson A2

French direct and indirect object pronouns replace nouns and come before the verb

Direct Object Pronouns (COD)

A direct object answers 'what?' or 'whom?' after the verb (no preposition). Replace it with a direct object pronoun. These come directly before the conjugated verb.

Person	Direct Object Pronoun	Example
me / m'	me / m'	Il me voit. (He sees me.)
te / t'	te / t'	Je te connais. (I know you.)
him / it (m.)	le / l'	Je le mange. / Je l'aime.
her / it (f.)	la / l'	Tu la vois? / Tu l'appelles?
us	nous	Il nous écoute. (He listens to us.)
you (pl.)	vous	Elle vous attend. (She is waiting for you.)
them	les	Je les adore. (I love them.)

Indirect Object Pronouns (COI)

An indirect object answers 'to whom?' or 'for whom?' (preceded by à in French). Replace à + person with an indirect object pronoun. Note: the third-person forms differ from direct objects.

Person	Indirect Object Pronoun	Example
to me	me / m'	Il me parle. (He speaks to me.)
to you	te / t'	Je te téléphone. (I call you.)
to him / to her	lui	Je lui dis la vérité. (I tell him/her the truth.)
to us	nous	Il nous écrit. (He writes to us.)
to you (pl.)	vous	Elle vous répond. (She replies to you.)
to them	leur	Je leur envoie un message. (I send them a message.)

Key difference: 3rd person — direct: le/la/les; indirect: lui/leur.

Placement: Before the Verb

Object pronouns in French come BEFORE the conjugated verb — the opposite of English.

English: I see him. → French: Je le vois. (pronoun before verb)
English: She calls me. → French: Elle me téléphone.
With negation: ne goes before the pronoun, pas after the verb:
Je ne le vois pas. (I don't see him.)
With infinitive: pronoun goes before the infinitive, not the conjugated verb:
Je veux le voir. (I want to see him.)

Double Object Pronouns — Order

When a sentence has both a direct and indirect object pronoun, the order is fixed:

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3
me, te, nous, vous	le, la, les	lui, leur

Examples:

Il me le donne. (He gives it to me.) — me before le
Je le lui dis. (I tell him/her it.) — le before lui
Elle nous les envoie. (She sends them to us.) — nous before les
Je le leur explique. (I explain it to them.) — le before leur

Common Verbs Taking Indirect Objects

Some French verbs take à + person and therefore use indirect object pronouns (COI), even where English might not use 'to':

parler à → lui/leur: Il lui parle. (He speaks to him/her.)
téléphoner à → lui/leur: Je lui téléphone. (I call him/her.)
dire à → lui/leur: Je lui dis. (I tell him/her.)
donner à → lui/leur: Tu lui donnes. (You give it to him/her.)
écrire à → lui/leur: Elle leur écrit. (She writes to them.)
répondre à → lui/leur: Il me répond. (He answers me.)

Common Mistakes

Avoid	Use	Why
Je le veux voir.	Je veux le voir.	With an infinitive, the object pronoun goes before the infinitive: veux + le voir, not le + veux voir.
Je lui vois. (for a direct object)	Je le vois.	Voir takes a direct object (see whom? → no à). Use le/la/les, not lui/leur.
Je parle le. (for parler à)	Je lui parle.	Parler à takes an indirect object → lui/leur, not le/la.
Je les leur donne. (wrong order)	Je le leur donne.	Double pronouns: me/te/nous/vous come first, then le/la/les, then lui/leur. Les + leur is not a standard double sequence; restructure.

Summary

Point	Form	Example
Direct: me/te/le/la	before verb	Je le vois. (I see him.)
Direct: nous/vous/les	before verb	Je les adore. (I love them.)
Indirect: me/te/lui	before verb	Je lui parle. (I speak to him.)
Indirect: nous/vous/leur	before verb	Je leur écrit. (I write to them.)
Negation	ne + pronoun + verb + pas	Je ne le vois pas.
With infinitive	pronoun before infinitive	Je veux le voir.
Double order	me/te/nous/vous → le/la/les → lui/leur	Je le lui dis.
lui vs le	lui = indirect (à); le = direct	Je lui parle. / Je le vois.

Object Pronouns — Les Pronoms Objets