The object pronouns are pronouns used to replace the object complements. It usually comes before the verb in a sentence.
Object pronouns are used to avoid repetition.
A. The direct object pronoun COD
1. Usage
Direct object pronouns are used when the personal pronoun is the direct object (COD) of the transitive verb.
• Tous les midis, j’achète un sandwich et je mange le sandwich au bureau. (Every lunchtime, I buy a sandwich and I eat the sandwich at the office.)
→ Tous les midis, j’achète un sandwich et je le mange au bureau.
The direct complement “le sandwich” of the verb “mange” in the second part of the senten has been replaced with “le” to avoid duplication.
Direct object pronouns replace things or people. They answer the questions “who?” or “what?”.
• Je regarde un film à la télévision → Je le regarde à la télévision (what? : un film)
• Je regarde mes enfants jouer → Je les regarde (who? : mes enfants)
2. Structure
| Sujet | COD | Sujet | COD |
| Je | me (m’) | Nous | Nous |
| Tu | te (t’) | Vous | Vous |
| Il | le (l’) | Ils / elles | les |
| Elle | la (l’) | Ils / elles | les |
• Je t’aime. (I love you)
• Tu regardes une femme. (You look at a woman) → Tu la regardes. (You look at her)
• Je attends mes amies. → Je les attends.
3. Place of direct object pronouns
The direct pronoun comes before the verb.
• Elle le veut. (She wants it)
In structures “Verb + infinitive”, it is placed after the conjugated verb.
• Vous devez le comprendre. (You have to understand it)
In the passé composé, in structures “Auxiliary + past participle”, it is placed before the auxiliary.
• Je l’ai mangé. (I ate it)
In the futur proche, in structures “Aller (present) + infinitive”, it is placed after “aller”.
• Je vais le manger. (I’ll eat it)
4. Agreement of the past participle
When the COD is placed before “avoir”, we make the agreement.
• Tu as acheté ta robe où ? (Where did you buy your dress?)
COD after “avoir” : disagree
• Tu l’as achetée où ? (l’= ta robe) (Where did you buy it?)
COD before “avoir” : agreement
5. With the negation
The negation in the present is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the verb:
“ne + complement pronoun + verb + pas”
• Il ne le mange pas. (He does not eat it)
The negation in the compound past is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the auxiliary:
“ne + complement pronoun + auxiliary + pas + past participle”
• Il ne l’a pas mangé. (He did not eat it)
The negation with an infinitive verb is placed before and after the verb:
“ne + verb + pas + complement pronoun + verb in the infinitive”
• Vous ne devez pas le manger. (You must not eat it)
B. The indirect object pronoun COI
1. COI refers to people with the preposition “à”
a) Structure
| Sujet | COI | Sujet | COI |
| Je | me (m’) | Nous | Nous |
| Tu | te (t’) | Vous | Vous |
| Il/Elle | lui | Ils / elles | leur |
b) Usage
In many instances, indirect object pronouns COI are used to avoid the repetition of a person introduced by the preposition “à”.
• Je dois téléphoner à mon mari. (I have to phone my husband)
→ Je dois lui téléphoner. (I have to phone him)
• Je demande à mes amies de venir me chercher à la gare. (I ask my friends to pick me up at the station)
→ Je leur demande de venir me chercher à la gare. (I ask them to pick me up at the station)
They answer the question “to whom?”.
• Je réponds à mon chef par e-mail. (I respond to my boss by e-mail)
→ Je lui réponds par email (to whom? (à qui?) : à mon chef)
• J’offre des fleurs à ma femme. (I give flowers to my wife)
→ Je lui offre des fleurs (to whom? (à qui?) : à ma femme)
• Je donne à mes enfants du chocolat. (I give my children chocolate)
→ Je leur donne du chocolat (to whom? (à qui?) : à mes enfants)
c) Its place
Normally, it comes before the verb.
• Elle lui demande son numéro de téléphone. (She asks him for his phone number)
In structures “Verb + infinitive”, it is placed after the conjugated verb.
• Vous pouvez leur répondre. (You can respond to them.)
In the passé composé, in structures “Auxiliary + past participle”, it is placed before the auxiliary.
• Je lui ai répondu. (I responded to her/him)
In the futur proche, in structures “Aller (present) + infinitive”, it is placed after “aller”.
• Je vais lui répondre. (I’ll respond to her/him)
d) Disagree past participle
We make the agreement of the past participle when the COD is placed before the auxiliary.
• Les photos, il les a vues. (The photos, he saw them)
On the other hand, the past participle remains invariable if there is no COD (whether or not there is an indirect object complement – COI) or if the COD is placed after the past participle.
• Une femme, il lui a téléphoné. (A woman, he telephoned her)
e) With the negation
The negation in the present is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the verb:
“ne + complement pronoun + verb + pas”
• Il ne lui répond pas. (He does not answer her)
The negation in the compound past is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the auxiliary:
“ne + complement pronoun + auxiliary + pas + past participle”
• Il ne nous a pas parlé. (He did not speak to us)
The negation with an infinitive verb is placed before and after the verb:
“ne + verb + pas + pronoun complement + verb in the infinitive”
• Vous ne devez pas leur dire. (You must not tell them)
2. COI refers to people with the preposition “de” and others
a) Structure
| Sujet | COI | Sujet | COI |
| Je | moi | Nous | nous |
| Tu | toi | Vous | vous |
| Il | lui | Ils | eux |
| Elle | elle | Elles | elles |
b) Usage
They are used to avoid the repetition of a person introduced by the preposition “de” and others (par, avec, etc)
• Je parle de mon amie. (I talk about my friend)
→ Je parle d’elle. (I talk about her)
• J’ai besoin de mes amis. (I need my friends)
→ J’ai besoin d’eux. (I need them)
They answer the question “de qui?”, “par qui?” …
c) Its place
It stays in the original position, after the preposition.
• Mon père, je rêve de lui. (My father, I dream of him)
3. COI refers to things with the preposition “de”
a) Structure and usage
They use the pronoun “en”. It can replace a COI introduced by the preposition “de”, in the case of concrete or abstract things. (If it is a person, we will use “moi”, “toi”, “eux”, “elle”...)
• J’ai besoin de mon livre. (I need my book)
→ J’en ai besoin. (I need it)
• Elle parle de son voyage. (She talks about her trip)
→ Elle en parle. (She talks about it)
b) Its place
Normally, it comes before the verb.
• Les chien, j’en ai peur. (Dogs, I'm afraid of them)
In structures “Verb + infinitive”, it is placed after the conjugated verb.
• Elle doit en parler. (She has to talk about it)
In the passé composé, in structures “Auxiliary + past participle”, it is placed before the auxiliary.
• Elle en a parlé. (She talked about it)
In the futur proche, in structures “Aller (present) + infinitive”, it is placed after “aller”.
• Je vais en parler. (I’ll talk about it)
c) With the negation
The negation in the present is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the verb:
“n’en + verb + pas”
• Il n’en parle pas. (He does not talk about it)
The negation in the compound past is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the auxiliary:
“n’en + auxiliary + pas + past participle”
• Il n’en a pas parlé. (He did not talk about it)
The negation with an infinitive verb is placed before and after the verb:
“ne + verb + pas + en + verb in the infinitive”
• Vous ne pouvez pas en parler. (You can not talk about it)
4. COI refers to things with the preposition “à” and others
a) Structure and usage
They use the pronoun “y”. It can replace a COI introduced by the preposition “à” and others (dans, en, sous, sur, devant...), in the case of concrete or abstract things.
(If it is a person, we will use “me”, “te”, “lui”, “elle”...)
• Je tiens à mon livre. (I care about my book)
→ J’y tiens. (I care about it)
• Elle répond aux questions. (She responds to questions)
→ Elle y répond. (She responds to it)
b) Its place
Normally, it comes before the verb.
• Le badminton, j'y joue. (Badminton, I play it)
In structures “Verb + infinitive”, it is placed after the conjugated verb.
• Elle peut y répond. (She can respond to it)
In the passé composé, in structures “Auxiliary + past participle”, it is placed before the auxiliary.
• Elle y a répondu. (She responded to it)
In the futur proche, in structures “Aller (present) + infinitive”, it is placed after “aller”.
• Elle vais y répond. (She will respond to it)
c) With the negation
The negation in the present is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the verb:
“n’y + verb + pas”
• Il n’y répond pas. (He does not respond to it)
The negation in the compound past is placed before and after the block formed by the pronoun and the auxiliary:
“n’y + auxiliary + pas + past participle”
• Il n’y a pas répondu. (He did not respond to it)
The negation with an infinitive verb is placed before and after the verb:
“ne + verb + pas + y + verb in the infinitive”
• Vous ne pouvez pas y répondre. (You can not respond to it)