Essential French Grammar (2012)

Personal Pronouns

In French, as in English, pronouns¹¹ have different forms according to their use or position in a sentence. We have already seen many times in the Verb Section the subject pronouns (je, tu, ii, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles) and the reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous, se). We shall now take up the other important pronoun forms.

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

The English object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) are either direct (He takes it) or indirect (He gives me the book, or, He gives the book to me).¹² In French, the object pronouns are as follows:

Their normal position is before the verb. However, in an affirmative command they follow the verb and are attached to it by a hyphen, just as we have seen with the reflexive pronouns (page 51). Study the following sentences:

Ils m‘ont donné l’argent.
They gave me the money.

Elle l’a trouvé.
She found it.

Je lui ai expliqué le problème.
I explained the problem to him.

Je ne la vois pas maintenant, mais je lui ai parlé il y a quelques
minutes.
I don’t see her now, but I spoke to her a few minutes ago.

Dites-moi la vérité.
Tell me the truth.

Ne me dérangez pas.
Don’t bother me.

Observations on direct and indirect object pronouns:

1. The singular object pronouns (me, te, le, la) become m‘, t’, and l’ before a word beginning with a vowel.

2. In a negative sentence, the ne comes before the object pronoun, the pas is in its usual position after the verb.

3. The me becomes moi when attached to the verb (in the affirmative command).

Sequence of Pronouns

When there are two object pronouns, the following order is observed in most cases:

Nous le lui avons donné.
We gave it to him.

II me l’a dit.
He told it to me.

In an affirmative command, however, the le, la and les come between the verb and the indirect object.

How to Avoid Difficult Pronoun Constructions

If you find the double object construction somewhat complicated, try to avoid it in this way. Instead of saying, “We gave it to him” (Nous le lui avons donné), say “We gave the book to him” (Nous lui avons donné le livre) or “We gave it to John” (Nous l’avons donné à fean). In other words, eliminate one of the object pronouns and substitute a noun. It is even possible to avoid the object pronouns entirely in some cases by saying “We gave the book to John” (Nous avons donné le livre à Jean).

Prepositional Forms of the Personal Pronouns

The pronouns used after prepositions are known technically as disjunctive personal pronouns. They are: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles. Study the following examples:

The prepositional form of the personal pronoun is also used when it stands alone without a verb.

Qui sait la réponse? Moi.
Who knows the answer? I (do).

Table of Personal Pronouns

The following table will be a useful reference in reviewing the personal pronouns. The familiar singular forms (tu) have been placed in parentheses to help remind you that you rarely need to use them. As has been pointed out on page 31, these forms are generally reserved for addressing close friends and close relatives, children, and animals.