Module 07: Les fêtes
Deuxième partie: l’automne, la grammaire
In this section:
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direct object pronouns – forms and uses
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direct object pronouns – placement
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direct object pronouns – agreement with the past participle
A direct object is a noun following the verb that answers the questions ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ Remember a pronoun replaces a noun. In this case the noun is a direct object. For example, Camille might ask: ‘Virginie, will you call me tonight when you get home?’, where the direct object pronoun ‘me‘ stands for Camille. Whether a verb takes a direct object or not depends on whether the specific verb is transitive or intransitive.
Definitions: transitive direct, transitive indirect, intransitive
Transitive verbs by definition have an object, either a direct object or an indirect object. Intransitive verbs never have objects.
A transitive-direct verb acts directly on its object. In the first sentence below, the telephone is the direct object. The verb ‘entendre’ (to hear) always takes an object; one hears someone or something.
A transitive-indirect verb acts to or for its object. Hugo is the object of the preposition à in the second sentence since Alex is talking to him.
Intransitive verbs, on the other hand, have no object at all. The verb dormir (to sleep) in the last example does not need any object to complete it. In fact, because the verb is intransitive, it cannot take an object. Intransitive verbs (as well as transitive ones) may be modified by adverbs or prepositional phrases: ‘Hugo sleeps on the couch; he sleeps all the time.’
direct object pronouns – forms and uses
| direct object pronouns | |
| me, me | nous, we/us |
| te, you | vous, you |
| le, him/it la, her/it |
les, them (masc./fem.) |
In front of a word starting with a vowel, le and la become l’; me becomes m’; te becomes t’.
| Sophie: Dis, tu m‘appelles ce soir, Louis? | Sophie: Say, will you call me tonight, Louis? | |
| Louis: Oui, je t‘appelle ce soir. | Louis: Yes, I will call you tonight. | |
| Hugo: Edouard et moi, tu nous appelles ce soir, Louis? | Hugo: Edouard and me, will you call us tonight, Louis? | |
| Louis: Non, je ne vous appelle pas ce soir. | Louis: No, I will not call you guys tonight. | |
| Alex: Moi, je peux les appeler ce soir! | Edouard: I can call them tonight! |
Direct object pronouns in French agree in number and gender with the nouns they replace.
| Louis cherche le numéro de téléphone de Sophie. Enfin il le trouve et il l‘appelle. | Louis looks for Sophie’s phone number. Finally, he finds it and he calls her. | |
| Alex cherche les numéros d’Edouard et de Hugo. Enfin iel les trouve et il les appelle. | Alex looks for Edouard and Hugo’s phone numbers. Finally, they find them and they call them. |
Note that le/l’ can replace an adjective or a verb.
| Louis et Sophie sont bien lus? Oui, ils le sont. | Louis and Sophie are well-read? Yes, they are. | |
| Louis est quelquefois tard? Oui, il l‘est. | Louis is sometimes late? Yes, he is. | |
| Hugo: Tu veux que j’appelle Sophie? | Hugo: Do you want me to call Sophie? | |
| Edouard: Non, moi, je vais le faire. | Edouard: No, I’ll do it. |
direct object pronouns – placement
Direct object pronouns precede the verb of which they are the object. In a composed tense (like the passé composé), the pronoun precedes the auxiliary. In infinitive constructions, the pronoun goes immediately before the infinitive. When the conjugated verb is negative, the ne precedes the object pronoun.
| Sophie: Tu lui parles souvent? | Sophie: Do you speak to him often? | |
| Marie: Non, je ne lui parle que le weekend. | Marie: No, I only speak to him on the weekends. | |
In the negative imperative, the pronoun follows the normal placement before the verb. However, in the affirmative imperative, the object pronoun goes after the verb and is attached to it by a hyphen. In addition, me and te become moi and toi.
| Marie: Hugo, donne-le-moi! | Marie: Hugo, give it to me! | |
| Hugo: Attends, je ne le vois pas, je ne sais pas où il est. | Hugo: Wait, I don’t see it, I don’t know where it is. | |
direct object pronouns – agreement with the past participle
The past participle agrees in gender and in number with a preceding direct object. In other words, if the direct object pronoun is feminine, add an e to the end of the past participle; if the pronoun is masculine plural, add an s (unless the past participle already ends in s); if it is feminine plural, add es.
| Marie: Sophie? Tu sais, Hugo m‘a appelée et m’a dit ton secret. | Marie: Sophie? You know, Hugo called me and told me your secret. | |
| Sophie: Ce n’est pas vrai! | Sophie: That’s not true. | |
| Marie: Demande-lui. Il arrive. | Marie: Ask him. Here he comes. | |
| Sophie: Hugo, tu lui as dit mon secret? | Sophie: Hugo, did you tell her my secret? | |
| Hugo: Qui? Marie? Mais non. Je ne le l‘ai pas dit. C’est elle qui me l‘a dit! | Hugo: Who? Marie? Why no. I didn’t tell her. She told me! |
