Les pronoms des objects directs

It answers the question: whom or what I see the bird. A direct object receives the action of the verb. You will learn the pronouns for these. It answers the question: whom or what I see the bird. What do I see? The bird. The bird is the direct object. We ate the fish. What did we eat? The fish.

They hear you. Whom do they hear? You. He is studying French. What is he studying? French I believe my son. Whom do I belive? My son. These are all direct objects. They work the same way in French.

French direct object pronouns Me me You te Us nous You all vous Him / it le Her / it la Them les

The direct object pronouns will go before the conjugated verb in present tense. I see the bird. Je vois l’oiseau. Je le vois. I believe my son. Je crois mon fils. Je le crois.

They hear you. Ils entendent toi. Ils t’entendent. He is studying French. Il étudie le français. Il l’étudie.

Commands In positive commands, the pronoun will come after the verb. It will be connected by a hyphen. Me and te will change to moi and toi In negative commands, the pronoun will come in the normal order.

Watch me. Regarde-moi Don’t wash my shirts. Ne lave pas mes chemises. Ne les lave pas.

L’infinitif If there is an infinitive, the direct object pronouns will usually go before them. They must stay with the verb they modify. She is going to mow the lawn. Elle va tondre la pelouse. Elle va la tondre.

Le passé composé The pronouns will go before the conjugated verb in the passé composé and the past participle will agree with the pronoun.** We ate the fish. Nous avons mangé le poisson. Nous l’avons mangé.**

He saw that girl. Il a vu cette fille. Il l’a vue.** The past participle agrees with the direct object pronoun. **

La négation The ne will go before the pronoun and the negative expression will go after the conjugated verb in the present tense and the passé composé. If there is an infinitive, the ne will go before the conjugateded verb and negative expression will go after it. The direct object will be in front of the infinitive.

You are not watching tv. Tu ne la regardes pas. You all are not erasing the board. Vous ne l’effacez pas. The girls never lost their keys. Les filles n’ont jamais perdu leurs clés. Les filles ne les ont jamais perdues. **

They can’t find us. Ils ne peuvent pas nous trouver. You all are not going to invite me. Vous n’allez pas m’inviter.

Les verbes spécials Some verbs in French take a direct object whereas they would take an indirect object in English. These verbs include: attendre; écouter; chercher; payer; and regarder. We are looking for our books. Nous cherchons nos livres. Nous les cherchons.