DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS
A direct object answers the question "what" or "whom." A direct object is NOT preceded by a preposition, such as "to," "for," "at" or "in." A direct object can be a thing, a person, an idea, a pronoun or even an entire phrase.
Here are a few examples of direct objects in English:
The direct object pronoun is used as a short cut in the language to replace a person or thing that is a direct object.(See 4 and 6 in the examples above). Direct object pronouns relate to other pronouns you already know as follows:
Subject | Reflexive | Direct Object |
me | me | me |
tu | te | te |
il | se | le |
elle | se | la |
nous | nous | nous |
vous | vous | vous |
ils | se | les |
elles | se | les |
In French, direct object pronouns are generally placed before the verb to which they belong.
Consider these examples:
Enfin, je vous attendais. |
Finally, I was waiting for you. |
Je vais vous rappeler. |
I will call you back. |
Vous allez me rappeler? |
You will call me back? |
Vous le verrez avant quil ne parte? (votre pèrele) |
Will you see him before he leaves? |
Ça vous pouvez le dire. |
You can say that again. (le is used to reinforce the statement) |
Est-ce que tu as ma clé?Non, je ne lai pas. (ma cléla) |
Do you have my key?No, I dont have it. |
Here, the plural form is used:
Vous pouvez les avoir demain. (les vêtementsles) |
You can have them tomorrow. |
Regarde ces petits chiens. Je les adore. (les petits chiensles) |
Look at these little dogs. I love them. |