2. These are the replacement words we use instead
of naming things - “I see Jane” becomes “I see
her”, “we eat cake” becomes “we eat it”
3. There are two types of objects
◦ Direct Objects
◦ Indirect Objects
We are going to use the following sentence as a
model for the rest of the lesson:
◦ Georges throws the ball to Jean.
4. Indirect means ‘when there IS someone or
something in the way’, usually indicated by the
word or sense of TO
So - “he talks to me”
What’s the difference?What’s the difference?
Je t’aime mon amour!
5. Direct literally means ‘when there’s no-one or
nothing in the way’
So - he kisses me.
6. Direct objects DIRECTLY receive the action of the
verb.
Direct objects answer the question what or whom.
Let’s go back to our model:
◦ Georges throws the ball to Jean.
What does Georges throw?
The ball! The ball is the direct object.
7. Try the following:
Caroline writes the letter to her Grandma.
◦ Direct object: the letter
Mathieu is going to read books to his sister.
◦ Direct object: books
The teacher speak French.
◦ Direct object: French
8. Direct object pronouns replace direct objects.
In English the direct object pronouns are: me, you,
it, him, her, us, them.
Let’s go back to our sentence:
◦ Georges throws the ball to Jean.
◦ Direct object: the ball
◦ Pronoun to replace the ball: it
◦ George throws it to Jean.
9. Try the following:
Caroline writes the letter to her Grandma.
◦ Direct object: the letter
Replaced with: it (Caroline writes it to her Grandma.)
Mathieu is going to read books to his sister.
◦ Direct object: books
Replaced with: them (Mathieu is going to read them to his sister.)
The teacher speaks French.
◦ Direct Object: French
Replaced with: it (The teacher speaks it.)
10. The direct object pronouns in French are:
◦ Me (me)
◦ Te (you [tu])
◦ Le (him/it—masculine, singular)
◦ La (her/it—feminine, singular)
◦ Nous (us)
◦ Vous (you—vous form)
◦ Les
There are two rules you must follow when using object
pronouns in French:
1. Object pronouns must agree with the noun they are replacing
2. Object pronouns go before the verb they are linked to.
Remember, le and la
become l’ before a
vowel!
11. Let’s translate our sentence into French:
◦ Georges throws the ball to Jean.
◦ Georges lance le ballon à Jean.
If ball is the direct object in English, what is the
direct object in French:
◦ Le ballon
Le ballon is masculine singular, therefore we
must use LE to replace le ballon.
12. Georges lance à Jean.
Georges lance à Jean.
Georges lance à Jean.
le ballonle ballon
(le)(le)
lele
13. Caroline écrit la lettre à sa grand-mère.
◦ Caroline l’écrit à sa grand-mère.
Mathieu va lire les livres à sa soeur.
◦ Mathieu va les lire à sa soeur.
Le prof parle le français.
◦ Le prof le parle.
14. The indirect object pronouns in French are:
◦ Me (to me)
◦ Te (to you [tu])
◦ Lui (to him/it/her)
◦ Nous (to us)
◦ Vous (to you—vous form)
◦ Leur (to them)
1. Object pronouns go before the verb they are linked to.
15. Caroline écrit la lettre à sa grand-mère.
◦ Caroline lui écrit la lettre.
Mathieu va lire les livres à sa soeur.
◦ Mathieu va lui lire les livres.
Le prof donne les livres aux eleves.
◦ Le prof leur donne les livres.
16. (To) me/
you/ us
Him/her/
it/them
To him/to
her/to
them
me
te
nous
vous
le
la
les
l'
lui
leur
When using more than one
pronoun in a sentence they
will ALWAYS go in this
order
17. Ses amis racontent l’histoire à Murielle
Elle donne le message à Franck
vous envoyez les produits au client
18. Ses amis la lui racontent
Elle le lui donne
vous les lui envoyez