Beginning2–Lesson3LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com Directobjectpronouns:me/te/le/la…
Inthislesson,wearegoingtofocusondirectobjectpronouns.Thisgrammarpointmight
seemtrickybutitisveryusefulandnecessary.Solet’smakeiteasy.
WHATISADIRECTOBJECT?
Whentheverbofasentencedirectlyactsuponitsobject(thingorperson),thisobjectis
called “direct object”. In other words, there is no preposition between the verb and its
object.
Inthefollowingsentences,thereisnoprepositionbetweentheverbanditsobject,andthe
underlinedpartisthereforecalled“directobject”:
Jelislejournal. Iread/I’mreadingthenewspaper.
J’écoutelaradio. Ilisten/I’mlisteningtotheradio.
Jeregardelesétoiles.
Iwatchthestars/Ilookatthestars.
IlconnaitSarah. HeknowsSarah.
In all these cases, you can ask the questions “quoi?” (what) or “qui?” (who) and answer
withoutusinganyprepositions.
Jelisquoi? →Lejournal.
Ilconnaîtqui?
→Sarah.
Whenthereisaprepositionbetweentheverbanditsobject,theobjectisthereforecalled
“indirectobject”.Wewilllearnaboutthatinafurtherlesson.
DIRECTOBJECTSPRONOUNS
Adirectobjectpronounisthewordthatreplacethedirectobject,sothatyoudon’thaveto
mentioniteverytime.Youcanusethedirectobjectpronounwhentheobjectwasalready
mentionedorknownfromthecontext.
It’ssimilartoEnglish:itwouldbeawkwardtosay:
“Ilikethismovie.WhenIwatchthismovie,Ilaughalot.”
You would probably use the pronoun “it” to replace “thismovie” in the second sentence.
It’sthesameinFrench.
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Beginning2–Lesson3LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com Directobjectpronouns:me/te/le/la…
Directobjectpronounsforthings:le/la/les
Let’s start with direct object pronouns for things. If the direct object that you want to
replaceisathing,thepronountousedependsonthegenderoftheobject.
Thepronounisplacedbeforetheverb.
Masculinenouns→le(“l’“beforeaverbstartingwithavoweloramute“h”)
Jelislejournal. Jeliscelivre.
Jevendsmonvélo.
→
→
→
Jelelis. Jelelis.
Jelevends. I’mreadingit.
I’mreadingit.
I’msellingit.
Jevaisacheterunappartement. →Jevaisl’acheter.I’mgoingtobuyit.
Femininenouns→la(“l’“beforeaverbstartingwithavoweloramute“h”)
Jemangeunepomme. →
Jelamange.
Jeregardelatélé. →
Jelaregarde.
Jeveuxvendrelavoiture.
→Jeveuxlavendre.
J’écoutelaradio. →Jel’écoute.
Pluralnouns→les
Jeregardelesétoiles. →
Jesuisentraindefairemesdevoirs. →
Jesuisentraindelesfaire.
Est-cequetuaimeslesfilmsd’actions?
- Non,jenelesaimepas.
Doyoulikeactionmovies?
No,Idon’tlikethem.
Est-cequetuattendslesvacances? - Oui,jelesattends. Areyouwaitingforthevacation?
Yes,I’mwaitingforthem.
Jelesregarde.
Alldirectobjectpronouns:me/te/le/la/nous/vous/les
There are 7 direct object pronouns equivalent to the different subject pronouns. All the
examples in the following table includes transitive verbs that are not followed by any
prepositions.
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Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.
Beginning2–Lesson3LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com Directobjectpronouns:me/te/le/la…
Notethatme,te,leandleshaveacontractedformwhichisusedbeforeverbstartingwitha
voweloramuteh.
Directobject
pronouns
(+contracted
form)
English
equivalent
me
(m’)
me
Est-cequetumevois?
Doyouseeme?/Canyouseeme?
te
(t’)
you,
Jenetevoispas.
Idon’tseeyou/Ican’tseeyou.
le
(l’)
him,it
Jeneleconnaispas.
Idon’tknowhim.
la
(l’)
her,it
Est-cequetulaconnais?
Doyouknowher?
nous
us
Ilnousaime.
Helovesus.
vous
you
Jenevousentendspas.
Ican’thearyou.
les
them
Jeveuxlesrencontrer.
Iwanttomeetthem.
Examples
Note: Direct object pronouns are placed after the verb when the imperative tense is used (see in a
furtherlessonfortheimperativetense).
SAMPLESENTENCES
Jet’aime! Iloveyou!
Est-cequetuaimescefilm?
-Non,jenel’aimepas. Doyoulikethismovie?
No,Idon’tlikeit!
Jevendsmavoiture.
Pourquoiest-cequetulavends?
I’msellingmycar.
Whydoyousellit?
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Beginning2–Lesson3LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com Directobjectpronouns:me/te/le/la…
Est-cequetuconnaisTimothée?
-Oui,jeviensdelerencontrer. DoyouknowTimothée?
Yes,Ijustmethim.
Sarah,oùest-cequetues?Jet’attends.
-Jesuisenretard,désolée.J’arrivedans5minutes.
Sarah,whereareyou?I’mwaitingforyou.
-Sorry.I’mlate.Iwillbetherein5minutes.
COMMONVERBSFOLLOWEDBYADIRECTOBJECT
Hereisanon-exhaustivelistofcommonverbsfollowedbydirectobject(whichmeansthat
wecommonlyusedirectobjectpronounswiththeseverbs)
avoir tohave
connaître(+N)toknow
faire todo
savoir(+fact)toknow
lire toread
rencontrer tomeet
regarder towatch,tolook
vendre
tosell
voir tosee
acheter
tobuy
écouter
tolisten
chercher tosearch
entendre tohear
trouver
tofind
manger
toeat
attendre
towait
boire todrink
commencer tostart
entendre tohear
terminer tofinish
aimer
tolike,tolove
finir tofinish
apprendre tolearn
continuer tocontinue
andmanymore….
ThanksforlearningwithLet’sSpeakFrenchTogether!Seeyouonourwebsite!
ThislessonisprovidedbyLet’sSpeakFrenchtogether.
Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.