Direct Object Pronouns
Direct object pronouns are words that replace the direct object to avoid sounding
repetitive. Let’s begin by understanding what a direct object is.
The Direct Object
The direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb in a
sentence. To find the direct object (D.O.) in a sentence, ask the question “Subject Verb
Who?” or “Subject Verb What?”
Example: Je regarde la télé. “I am watching T.V.”
Question you ask to find the D.O: “Subject Verb What/Who?”
Je regarde quoi/qui ?
Answer: la télé
By asking yourself the question "Subject Verb what/who?" you have just discovered that
in the example above the direct object was la télé. Every time you read a new sentence
train yourself to identify the subject, the verb and the direct object by asking the
question "Subject Verb what/who?"
Determine whether or not the following sentences have a D.O., and then identify them:
1) Il voit le facteur à la porte. “He sees the mailman at the door.”
2) J'écris une lettre à ma mère. “I write a letter to my mother.”
3) Ils courent. “They are running.”
Take a minute to ask the right question (Subject Verb what/who?), and then write your
answer on a piece of scratch paper. When you are done, read the following answers.
1
2
3
question
answer
question
answer
question
answer
Il voit quoi/qui ?
le facteur
J'écris quoi/qui ?
une lettre
Ils courent quoi/qui ?
No D.O.
“He sees what/who?”
“the mailman”
“I write what/who?“
“a letter”
“They are running what/who?”
--
Number 1 is straight-forward. In number 2, notice that the right answer to j'écris
quoi/qui ? is definitely une lettre and NOT ma mère, which would be the indirect
object, the answer to the question j'écris à quoi/à qui ? (“I write to what/to whom?”).
Finally in number 3, there is no answer to the question. Remember that not every
sentence contains a direct object.
Now that you have learned to identify the direct object in a sentence, you need to
realize that direct objects can not only be nouns (as in the examples above: le facteur,
une lettre, etc.), they can also be pronouns.
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Direct Object Pronouns
The Direct Object Pronouns
The French direct object pronouns are:
me/m’
te/t’
le/l’
la/l’
nous
vous
les
“me”
“you”
“him, it” (masculine)
“her, it” (feminine)
“us”
“you”
“them”
Me, te, and le / la change to m', t', and l' in front of a vowel or a silent "h."
Let us use the pronouns in a sentence:
Je la vois ! "I see her!"
La answers the question "I see what/who?"
Here is another example:
Ils nous comprennent. “They understand us.”
Placement in the sentence:
In French, a direct object pronoun always goes right before the verb of which it is the
object:
- Tu lis ce livre ?
- Oui, je le lis.
-“Are you reading this book?”
-“Yes, I am reading it.”
- Et toi, est-ce que tu le lis aussi ?
- Non, je ne le lis pas.
-“And you? Are you reading it as well?
-“No, I am not reading it.”
J’aime apprendre le français.  J’aime l'apprendre.
I like to learn French  I like learning it.
Direct Object Pronouns
© 2012 Middlebury Interactive Languages.
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