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French 2 Unit 6: Object Pronouns (Direct, Indirect, Y, En)

Object pronouns replace nouns so you do not repeat them: Je vois Marie becomes Je la vois. French has direct, indirect, y and en pronouns, and all of them go before the verb, which is why this unit takes practice.

Covers: Direct object pronouns (le, la, l', les), Indirect object pronouns (lui, leur), Me, te, nous, vous, The pronoun y, The pronoun en, Placement with infinitives and the passé composé, Double object pronoun order

Study guide

A direct object receives the action of the verb with no preposition: Je regarde le film. The direct object pronouns are me, te, le (him, it), la (her, it), nous, vous and les (them). Le and la become l' before a vowel or mute h. Unlike English, French places the pronoun in front of the conjugated verb: Je le regarde (I watch it). Tu connais Sophie ? Oui, je la connais. In the negative, ne goes before the pronoun: Je ne les aime pas. Watch for verbs that take a direct object in French but a preposition in English: chercher (to look for), attendre (to wait for), écouter (to listen to) and regarder (to look at).

An indirect object is a person introduced by à: Je parle à Paul. The third-person indirect pronouns are lui (to him or to her) and leur (to them); me, te, nous and vous are the same as the direct forms. Je lui parle. Nous leur téléphonons. Common verbs that take à + person include parler à, téléphoner à, répondre à, donner à, écrire à, demander à, dire à, envoyer à, montrer à and ressembler à. Lui is used for both masculine and feminine, and leur never takes an s when it is a pronoun.

The pronoun y usually replaces à (or another place preposition like en, dans, chez) + a place or thing: Tu vas à Paris ? Oui, j'y vais. Il est dans sa chambre ? Oui, il y est. It also replaces à + a thing or idea with verbs like penser à and répondre à: Je pense à mon examen → J'y pense. For people, use lui or leur instead, or à + stressed pronoun with penser: Je pense à ma mère → Je pense à elle.

The pronoun en replaces de + a noun. It replaces partitive and indefinite expressions: Tu veux du pain ? Oui, j'en veux. It replaces nouns after numbers and quantities, and the number stays: J'ai trois frères → J'en ai trois. Tu as beaucoup de devoirs ? Oui, j'en ai beaucoup. It also replaces de + thing with verbs like parler de, avoir besoin de and avoir peur de: Nous en parlons. Il y a is very common with en: Il y en a deux (There are two of them).

Placement rules are the same for all object pronouns. In a simple tense the pronoun goes before the conjugated verb. With a verb + infinitive, it goes before the infinitive: Je vais le faire, Je veux y aller. In the passé composé it goes before the auxiliary: Je l'ai vu, Je lui ai parlé, J'en ai mangé. A past participle with avoir agrees with a preceding direct object: Les clés ? Je les ai trouvées. It never agrees with lui, leur, y or en. When two pronouns appear together, use this order: me/te/se/nous/vous → le/la/les → lui/leur → y → en. Il me le donne. Je la lui donne. Il y en a.

Key ideas

• Direct object pronouns (le, la, les) replace nouns with no preposition.
• Indirect object pronouns lui and leur replace à + a person.
• Y replaces à or a place preposition + a place, thing or idea.
• En replaces de + a noun, including partitives and nouns after quantities.
• Object pronouns go before the conjugated verb, or before the infinitive when there is one.
• In the passé composé, pronouns go before the auxiliary and the participle agrees only with a preceding direct object.
• Double pronouns follow a fixed order: me/te/se/nous/vous, le/la/les, lui/leur, y, en.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Putting the pronoun after the verb, as in *Je vois la instead of Je la vois.
• Using le or la for an indirect object, as in *Je la téléphone instead of Je lui téléphone.
• Adding s to leur, as in *Je leurs parle.
• Dropping the number with en, as in *J'en ai instead of J'en ai deux when the number matters.
• Making the participle agree with lui, leur or en, as in *Je leur ai parlés.

Before the test, make sure you can

• Identify direct and indirect objects in a French sentence.
• Replace direct objects with le, la, l' or les.
• Replace à + person with lui or leur.
• Replace places and à + things with y.
• Replace de + noun with en, keeping numbers and quantities.
• Place pronouns correctly with negatives, infinitives and the passé composé.
• Make past participles agree with preceding direct object pronouns only.
• Combine two pronouns in the correct order.

Words to know

chercher

to look for

attendre

to wait for

écouter

to listen to

regarder

to look at, to watch

aider

to help

inviter

to invite

téléphoner à

to call

répondre à

to answer

ressembler à

to look like

obéir à

to obey

envoyer à

to send to

montrer à

to show to

prêter à

to lend to

penser à

to think about

avoir besoin de

to need

avoir envie de

to feel like

parler de

to talk about

s'occuper de

to take care of

réfléchir à

to think over

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.