Direct and Indirect Object Pronoun Notes
Direct Object Pronouns A direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb. Ex. Ils achètent le gateau. Direct objects can be nouns or pronouns. To avoid repetition, direct objects can be replaced by direct object pronouns. Me - me Nous - us Te – you (sing, fam.) Vous- you (formal, plural) Le/la -him/her, it Les – them In English, they go after the verb, in French before.
Direct Object Pronouns In the present tense, place direct object pronoun before the conjugated verb. If there are two verbs, place it before the infinitive. Me, te, le, la change to m’, t’, l’ before a vowel sound Ex. Ils mangent le gateau. Ils le mangent. Ils vont regarder le defilé. Ils vont le regarder. Je vous invite chez moi. Je m’appelle Jean. Ma mère m’ envoie une carte d’anniversaire?
Direct Object Pronouns When using with a negative, place the ne…pas around the direct object pronoun and verb Ex. Pierre ne regarde pas la télé. Pierre ne la regarde pas. In passé composé, the direct object pronoun will come before the helping verb (avoir, etre) Ex. Tu as regardé le film hier? Tu l’as regardé hier?
Indirect Object Pronouns An indirect object is the person who benefits from the action of the verb. In French, it’s almost always preceded by à and is often used with verbs of giving and receiving (donner, offrir, envoyer) and of communicating (parler, téléphoner, dire) ex. Je vais envoyer une invitation à ton cousin. Indirect object pronouns are used to avoid repetition. Place it before the conjugated verb, or before the infinitive if there are 2 verbs in a sentence.
Indirect Object Pronouns Me (m’)- to me nous- to us Te (t’)- to you vous- to you Lui- to him, her leur- to them Ex. Nous allons envoyer une carte postale à mes parents. -> Nous allons leur envoyer une carte postale. Alors, je vous envoie une invitation à ma fête. Tu pourrais lui offrir un CD. Nous lui parlons.
Indirect Object Pronouns When used with negative, place ne…pas around the pronoun and verb Ex. Pierre ne téléphone pas à ses amis. -> Pierre ne leur téléphone pas. In the passé composé, pronoun comes before the helping verb. Ex. J’ai dit à ma cousine de venir ce soir. -> Je lui a dit de venir ce soir.
Double Object Pronouns In a sentence with direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns, use the following order: Me le Te l’ lui verb Nous la leur Vous les Je te l’envoie. – I’m sending it to you.