Subject pronouns usually begin a sentence. They tell what the person or thing is doing. In French they are as follows Je- I nous- we Tu – you (informal) vous – you (formal/ plural) Il – he, it Ils- they (m. or m.&f.) Elle- she, it elles –they (f.) On – one, they e.g. Nous chantons.
Object pronouns receive the action of the verb. Paul sees me. You invite us. They invite you (all). I thank you. She wants to speak to me. The French object pronouns for me, you,us You all are: me (m’), te, (t’) nous and vous.
Paul me regarde. Il nous aime. Nous te parlons. Elle vous aime. Berthe va me voir. Georges ne m’aime pas. Je te remercie. Notice that the object pronoun is placed before the verb in most sentences.
Pierre invites me to the exhibit. We see you all. She is speaking to us. We want to see you. (singular) They help us.
Me =me, to me, for me te = you, to you, for you Nous = us, to us, for us Vous = you (all), to you, for you. Papa m’achète une tarte. Nous vous achetons des sodas.
Affirmative commands: 1. Attach the pronoun to the command. 2. Change: me – moi, te- toi. 3. Apporte-moi un soda s’il te plaît. 4. Donnez-nous du pain, s’il vous plaît. 5. Lève-toi.
Place the object pronoun before the verb. Use Me, te instead of moi and toi. Ne me parle pas. Ne nous invitez pas. Ne me regarde pas
Word order: Subject and verb + pronoun object+ infinitive Je voudrais te voir. Nous allons vous aider. Pierre ne veut pas nous attendre. Tu vas me chercher.
me (m’) menous us te (t’) you (fam.)vousyou Le (l’) him, itlesthem la (l’) her, itlesthem
Marie prend le livre. Marie le prend. Jeanne voit Pierre. Jeanne le voit. Jacques cherche la photo. Jacques la cherche. Nous envoyons les lettres. Nous les envoyons.
The direct object pronoun is placed directly before the verb of which it is object. Je l’apporte. Nous ne la voyons pas. Elle va les finir Nous n’allons pas le voir.
The verbs écouter (listen to), regarder (look at),chercher (look for), attendre (wait for)and demander (ask for),take a direct object in French even though a preposition is used in English. Je les écoute. I listen to them. On la cherche. They are looking for her.
Le, la, l’ and les follow the same rules of placement as the other object pronouns. Affirmative Negative Regarde-les. Ne les regarde pas. Attendez-la. Ne l’attendez pas. Écoutez-le. Ne l’écoutez pas. Cherche-la. Ne la cherche pas.
In the passé composé the pronoun object comes before the helping verb avoir. The past participle will agree with the preceding direct object. Let’s look at the following sentences. Hier, j’ai vu Henri. Henri is the direct object of the verb. When we replace Henri with a pronoun, we will place it directly before both verbs. Je l’ai vu. (Je ne l’ai pas vu.)
If the pronoun object is feminine or plural the past participle will agree with it. Tu as vu Pierrette? Oui, je l’ai vue. Tu as acheté les carottes? Oui, je les ai achetées. Tu as fini les devoirs? Oui, je les ai finis. (Non, je ne les ai pas finis.)
This agreement of the past participle only applies if there is a direct object and it comes before the verb. There must be a past participle (e.g. vu, acheté, fini, vendu). Examine the following sentences. Nous avons vu Simone et Claudette. Nous les avons vues. Nous les voyons. (present tense) Nous allons les voir. (near future)