French Indirect Object Pronouns
Questions This Article Answers
What's an indirect object pronoun?
What are the indirect object pronouns in French?
How do you use indirect object pronouns in French?
What's an Object?
Let's start from the beginning. In order to understand what an indirect object pronoun is, you must first understand what an object is. An object is the word—or group of words—that the verb is acting on. For example:
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In the first sentence, the verb is écrire(to write). The subject is ma mère (my mother) because she is performing the action of writing. The object is une lettre (a letter) because it is what is being acted on.
In the second sentence, the verb is parler(to talk). The subject is Gabriel because he is performing the action of talking. The object is à ma mère (to my mother) because she is the one being talked to. So, an object is not necessarily a thing. In grammar, an object can be a person!
Direct vs. Indirect Objects
Now that you know what an object is, you should know that there are two main types of objects: direct objects and indirect objects. In this article, we will only talk about indirect objects in French. An indirect object in French is an object that starts with a preposition à[to] in the examples below).
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In French, objects that do not start with a preposition are direct objects. For example: Je mange une glace.(I'm eating ice cream.) The object une glace is a direct object.
What's an Object Pronoun?
An object pronoun is an object that has been turned into a pronoun to avoid repeating the full name of the object. If we didn't have pronouns, our language would sound so repetitive! For example: Do you know my mother? My mother was born in Poland, and my mother moved to France in the 1970s. Then, my mother met my father... Thanks to pronouns like she (subject pronoun) and her (object pronoun), we can get straight to the point!
Indirect Object Pronouns in French
Let's take a look at the indirect object pronouns in French in the table below!
The Indirect Object Pronouns in French
| French | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| me | to me | |
| te | to you | |
| lui | to him, to her | |
| se | to himself, to herself | reflexive |
| nous | to us | |
| vous | to you or to you all | |
| leur | to them | |
| se | to themselves | reflexive |
They are used for any indirect object of a sentence! For example:
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Indirect Object Pronoun Placement in French
When you use an indirect object pronoun, the indirect object pronoun goes before the verb in French, even if the non-pronoun indirect object would go after the verb. If the verb is in a compound tense (like the passé composé), the indirect object pronoun will go before the auxiliary verb avoir(have) or être(be).
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Indirect Object Lui Is Both Masculine and Feminine
The indirect object pronoun lui is the same in the masculine and in the feminine. The object pronoun lui can mean either him or her. However, note that lui can also be used as a stressed pronoun. In this case, lui only means him. The feminine form of the stressed pronoun is elle(her).
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Learn all about pronouns in French with these articles!
