lesson

DEFINITION AND USE

In French, a pronoun is a word that is used to replace another word, so as not to repeat it. The pronoun can have several functions in the sentence:

The subject of the sentence: subject pronoun.
Mathias est très doué en anglais. Il (= Mathias) a toujours 20/20.
EN: Mathias is very good in English. He (= Mathias) always gets 20/20.
The complement of the sentence:
- direct personal pronouns for direct objects.
- indirect personal pronouns for indirect complements.
  Mes parents habitent à Trèves. J'y vais (= à Trèves) demain.
  EN : My parents live in Trier. I'm going there (= to Trier) tomorrow.

In this lesson, we will focus on the difference between direct and indirect pronouns.

WORD FUNCTIONS

The basic sentence

subject / verb / complement

Laurent lit le journal.
EN: Laurent reads the newspaper.

In French, nouns can play several roles in the sentence. In different sentences, the same noun can be:

subject: the one who DOES the action ;
direct object: answers the question "WHAT are we doing?” ;
indirect object: after a PREPOSITION, answers the questions "to what?" / "to whom?" or "of what?" / "of whom?".

Subject: Le chat dort.
EN: The cat is sleeping.
Who is doing the action, who is sleeping? The cat.

Direct object: J'aime le chat.
EN: I like the cat.
Here, "I" (je) is the subject. I like what? (J’aime quoi ?) The cat.

Indirect object: Je donne à manger au chat.
EN : I feed the cat.
"I" (je) is the subject. Who am I feeding? (Je donne à manger à qui ?) The cat (Au chat).

Most verbs require either a direct or an indirect object. But some verbs like donner (to give) allow to add both a direct and an indirect object: one gives something (direct object) to someone (indirect object).

Le chat donne un coup à la souris.
EN : The cat gives a blow to the mouse.

Who does the action? Le chat donne = subject
The cat gives what? un coup = direct object
The cat gives the blow to whom? à la souris = indirect object

The direct object (no preposition)

The object is placed directly after the verb.

L’élève apprend sa leçon.
EN : The student is learning his lesson.

Tu embrasses une fille.
EN: You are kissing a girl.

The indirect object (with preposition)

There is a preposition between the verb and the object.

The prepositions
à – de – avec – sans – pour – chez – dans – sur – sous…

Il téléphone à sa femme.
EN: He is calling his wife.

J’écris un message sur l’ordinateur.
EN: I am writing a message on the computer.

DIRECT PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Type of noun	Corresponding pronouns
Definite article: le - la – les + noun	LE - LA – LES
Partitive article: du - de la – des + noun	EN
Indefinite article: un - une - deux - trois… + noun	EN + UN - UNE - DEUX…

le - la - les => LE - LA – LES

Tu lis le journal. EN: You are reading the newspaper.	Tu le lis. EN: You are reading it.
Il regarde la télé. EN: He is watching TV.	Il la regarde. EN: He is watching it.
Elle écoute les informations. EN: She is listening to the news.	Elle les* écoute.* EN: She is listening to it.

du – de la – des => EN

Je mange du pain. EN: I am eating bread.	J’en mange. EN: I'm eating some.
Tu bois de la bière. EN: You are drinking beer.	Tu en bois. EN : You are drinking some.
Il a des enfants. EN: He has children.	Il en a. EN: He has some.

un - une - deux - trois - etc. => EN... UN - UNE - DEUX - etc.

Elle boit un café. EN: She drinks a coffee.	Elle en boit un. EN: She is drinking one.
Vous posez une question. EN: You are asking a question.	Vous en posez une. EN: You are asking one.
Ils ont deux enfants. EN: They have two children.	Ils en ont deux. EN: They have two of them.

Watch out for the negative form!

Tu as un frère ? EN: Do you have a brother?	Oui, j’en ai un. EN: Yes, I do. Non, je n’en ai pas. EN: No, I don’t.
Combien de sœurs tu as ? EN: How many sisters do you have?	J’en ai trois. EN: I have three of them. Je n’en ai pas. EN: I don’t have any.

INDIRECT PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Type of noun	Corresponding pronoun
A place or À + a thing	Y
A person	LUI – LEUR
A thing	EN

à, dans, sur, sous… + a place => Y
À + a thing => Y

Je vais à la poste. EN: I am going to the post office.	J’y vais. EN: I'm going there.
Il joue au tennis. EN: He is playing tennis.	Il y joue. EN: He plays it.
La clé est dans* ma poche. (La clé est à cette place.)* EN: The key is in my pocket. (The key is in that place.)	Elle y est. EN: It’s there.

À + a person => LUI (singular) - LEUR (plural)

Je parle à mon père. EN: I'm talking to my father.	Je lui* parle.* EN: I’m talking to him.
Je parle à ma mère. EN: I'm talking to my mother.	Je lui* parle.* EN: I’m talking to her.
Je parle à mes parents. EN: I’m talking to my parents.	Je leur* parle.* EN: I’m talking to them.

Exception: penser à + a person = penser à lui, à elle, à eux, à elles

Je pense* à mon père.* EN: I think of my father.	Je pense à lui. EN: I think of him.
Je pense* à ma mère.* EN: I think of my mother.	Je pense à elle. EN: I think of her.

DE + a thing => EN

Elle a besoin de ce livre. EN: She needs this book.	Elle en a besoin. EN: She needs it.
Ils parlent de ce spectacle. EN: They are talking about this show.	Ils en parlent. EN: They are talking about it.

The other prepositions => same preposition + moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles

Je mange avec* mon amie.* EN: I'm eating with my friend.	Je mange avec elle. EN: I'm eating with her.
Je sors sans* mon ami.* EN: I'm going out without my friend.	Je sors sans lui. EN: I am going out without him.
Tu chantes pour* tes amies.* EN: You sing for your friends.	Tu chantes pour elles. EN: You sing for them.
Tu te souviens de tes amis. EN: You remember your friends.	Tu te souviens d’eux. EN: You remember them.

THE PLACE OF PRONOUNS

In some sentences, it is possible to use two direct/indirect pronouns to replace two elements.

A	B	C	D	E
me te se nous vous	le la les	lui leur	y	en

Watch out! It is impossible to have the following combinations:
A + C or C + D

Some examples (other combinations are possible):

A + B	Il me les donne. EN: He gives them to me.	Je te le dis. EN: I’m telling it to you.
B + C	Il les leur donne. EN: He gives it to them.	Je le lui dis. EN: I tell it to him.
C + E	Il lui en a parlé. EN: He told him/her about it.	Des solutions ? Je leur en ai proposées. EN: Solutions? I offered them some.

Pronoun and infinitive

The pronoun is placed before the infinitive.

Je prépare le repas. EN: I am preparing the meal.	Je le prépare. EN: I am preparing it.
Je vais préparer* le repas.* EN: I am going to prepare the meal.	Je vais le préparer. EN: I am going to prepare it.

Note that this rule does not always apply!
With the verbs: écouter, entendre, voir, regarder, sentir, faire and laisser, the pronoun is placed before the conjugated verb.

Tu regardes la fille danser. EN: You are watching the girl dance.	Tu la regardes danser. EN: You are watching her dance.
Il laisse sortir* son chien.* EN: He lets his dog out.	Il le laisse sortir. EN: He lets it out.

MISTAKES TO AVOID

Confusing direct and indirect pronouns

Pierre est mon ami. Je le parle souvent.
Correct sentence: Je lui parle souvent.
EN: Pierre is my friend. I talk to him often.

In this sentence, the pronoun that replaces "Peter" is an indirect object, we are talking "to" someone (parler à quelqu’un). This is why you have to use the corresponding indirect pronoun: lui.
We could have used le with a direct object: Le chinois est ma langue maternelle. Je le parle souvent. (Je parle quoi ? Le chinois.)
EN: Chinese is my mother tongue. I speak it often. (I speak what? Chinese.)

Using the wrong direct or indirect pronoun

Le professeur est très occupé. Je ne la vois jamais hors des cours.
Correct sentence: Je ne le vois jamais hors des cours.
EN: The teacher is very busy. I never see him outside of class.
=> Here, there is an agreement mistake, the pronoun replaces a masculine word le professeur, so a masculine pronoun (le) is needed.

Je joue du piano toute la journée. J'y rêve même la nuit !
Correct sentence: J'en rêve même la nuit !
=> Here, the pronoun replaces an indirect object preceded by de, so you must use en and not y which is used with à.

Grammar:

Articles

Direct and indirect pronouns

Relative pronouns

Comparative / Superlative

[Mise à jour en cours] Les accords – règle générale

Special agreements

Linking words

Connecting ideas

[Mise à jour en cours] Les prépositions

[Mise à jour en cours] La voix active / la voix passive

Les verbes prépositionnels

Les pronoms démonstratifs

Les pronoms possessifs

Translations:

English

Français