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Course / Leçon 17 of 40

Object pronouns

After this lesson you can replace nouns with short pronouns (je le vois, je lui parle, je ne l'ai pas vu) and handle a phone call: calling back, leaving a message, spelling your name.

52 core words · 14 bonus cognates · 16 phrases

Pronunciation

Elision: the apostrophe that eats a vowel

What elision is

French hates two vowels colliding across a word boundary. So a short word ending in -e (or -a in la) drops that vowel before a word starting with a vowel or a mute h, and an apostrophe marks the gap. The two words are then pronounced as one:

Full form Elided Sounds like
le + objet l'objet /lɔbʒɛ/
la + île l'île /lil/
je + ai j'ai /ʒe/
de + eau d'eau /do/
ne + ai je n'ai pas /ʒə ne pa/
que + il qu'il /kil/
se + appeler s'appeler /saple/
ce + est c'est /sɛ/
me / te + aime m'aime, t'aime /mɛm/, /tɛm/

English does something similar in speech (I'm, don't), but French makes it obligatory and writes it every time. German has nothing comparable in writing (geht's is optional and informal).

The list is short

Only these words elide: le, la, je, me, te, se, ce, de, ne, que (plus jusque, lorsque, puisque), and si only before il/ils: s'il vous plaît, but si elle.

Trap: qui never elides. Qui a appelé ? stays qui a.

Why it matters for reading

The apostrophe hides the small word, and with it a lot of grammar. When you read l', ask: is it le or la? A noun or a pronoun?

  • l'appel (le appel, article) vs. je l'appelle (le/la, pronoun: I call him/her)
  • je l'ai vu = I saw him/it (masc.) and je l'ai vue = I saw her/it (fem.). Only the past participle tells you!
  • d' can be de (of/from) or the de after a negation: je n'ai pas d'argent.
  • s' can be se (reflexive) or si: s'il pleut = if it rains.

Mute vs. aspirated h

Most h words elide: l'homme, l'heure, l'hôtel, l'histoire. A few "aspirated" h words block it, although the h is still silent: le hasard /lə azaʁ/, la honte, le haut. Learn them as they come; dictionaries mark them with an asterisk.

Say it as one word: l'entrée /lɑ̃tʁe/, l'occasion /lɔkazjɔ̃/, j'appuie /ʒapɥi/, qu'elle /kɛl/.

Grammar

Object pronouns: le, la, les, lui, leur

Direct vs. indirect object

French sorts objects exactly like German sorts Akkusativ and Dativ:

  • Direct object (no preposition): Je vois Marie. (Ich sehe sie.)
  • Indirect object (with à + person): Je parle à Marie. (Ich spreche mit ihr / Ich gebe ihr ...)

The pronouns:

Person Direct (Akk.) Indirect (Dat.)
me me (m') me (m')
you te (t') te (t')
him / it le (l') lui
her / it la (l') lui
us nous nous
you (pl./formal) vous vous
them les leur

Only the third person changes: le / la / les (direct) vs. lui / leur (indirect). Note: lui is both him and her (like English to him / to her merged into one word).

Position: before the verb

This is the big difference from English and German. The pronoun goes in front of the conjugated verb:

  • Je le vois. = I see him. (Ich sehe ihn.)
  • Je la connais. = I know her.
  • Je lui parle. = I speak to him/her.
  • Il nous appelle demain. = He's calling us tomorrow.
  • Je leur écris. = I'm writing to them.

With a negation, ne ... pas wraps around pronoun + verb as one block:

  • Je ne le vois pas. = I don't see him.
  • Elle ne leur répond pas. = She doesn't answer them.

Passé composé

The pronoun goes before avoir/être, not before the participle:

  • *Je **l'*ai vu. = I saw him/it.
  • *Je **ne l'*ai pas vu. = I didn't see him/it.
  • Tu lui as parlé ? = Did you talk to him/her?

Agreement: when a direct object pronoun comes before avoir, the participle agrees with it: La clé ? Je l'ai trouv*ée.* Les photos ? Je les ai v*ues.* Indirect pronouns never trigger agreement: Je leur ai parlé.

With an infinitive

When a verb is followed by an infinitive, the pronoun goes before the infinitive (the verb it belongs to):

  • *Je vais **l'*appeler. = I'm going to call him.
  • Je peux vous aider ? = Can I help you?
  • Tu dois lui répondre. = You have to answer him/her.

Imperative: the one exception

In positive commands the pronoun goes after the verb with a hyphen, and me becomes moi:

  • Appelez-moi demain. = Call me tomorrow.
  • Rappelle-le ! = Call him back!
  • But negative: Ne le dérangez pas. = Don't disturb him.

Verbs that switch cases

Some verbs take a different object than in German or English. Learn them with their pattern:

French Object German / English
remercier qn direct: je la remercie ihr danken (Dat.) / thank her
aider qn direct: je les aide ihnen helfen (Dat.)
attendre qn direct: *je **t'*attends auf dich warten / wait for you
écouter qn direct: *je **l'*écoute listen to him
téléphoner à qn indirect: je lui téléphone ihn anrufen (Akk.)
demander à qn indirect: je leur demande sie fragen (Akk.)
répondre à qn indirect: je lui réponds ihm antworten

Shortcut: if the French verb uses à + person, use lui/leur. If it takes the person directly, use le/la/les. Ignore what German or English does here.

Cognate pattern

-al / -el = -al / -ell

The rule

French adjectives in -al and -el usually match English -al and German -al or -ell. They come from Latin -alis, so all three languages share them.

French English German
national national national
international international international
général general allgemein, generell
local local lokal, örtlich
médical medical medizinisch
mental mental mental, geistig
municipal municipal städtisch, kommunal
commercial commercial kommerziell, Handels-
légal legal legal, gesetzlich
illégal illegal illegal
original original originell, ursprünglich
normal normal normal
fondamental fundamental fundamental, grundlegend
naturel natural natürlich
réel real real, wirklich
culturel cultural kulturell
industriel industrial industriell
traditionnel traditional traditionell
universel universal universell
personnel personal persönlich

Tip: French -el often matches German -ell (culturel / kulturell, industriel / industriell, traditionnel / traditionell) while English says -al.

Forms and traps

  • Feminine: -al → -ale (nationale), but -el → -elle with double l (naturelle, culturelle, réelle). -onnel keeps its double n: traditionnelle, personnelle.
  • Plural: -al → -aux for masculine: un problème local, des problèmes locaux; un centre commercial, des centres commerciaux. Feminine is regular: des lois locales. -el is regular: des objets réels.
  • le personnel as a noun = the staff (das Personal), not "personal".
  • original often means unusual, quirky: une idée originale = an unconventional idea. La version originale (VO) = the original-language version of a film.
  • commercial also means sales: le directeur commercial = sales director.
  • un tunnel and le tribunal (court) are nouns with the same endings. Plural: des tribunaux.