Language/French/Grammar/Object-pronouns-in-coordinated-clauses

Object pronouns in coordinated clauses

When clauses containing unstressed object pronouns are coordinated by et or ou, it is normally necessary to repeat the pronoun in the second clause:

• Cela m'agace et m'ennuie

That irritates and bores me

• Je les ai préconisés et les ai proposés

7 advocated and proposed them

• Elle l'a aidé et lui a donné de l'argent

She helped him and gave him money

However, where the two pronouns are identical in form and attached to an auxiliary (avoir or être), the second pronoun and auxiliary may be deleted together:

• Je les ai préconisés et proposés

The pronouns must be identical, however, and both the pronoun and the auxiliary must be deleted together. Hence the following are impossible:

• NOT *Je les ai préconisés et ai proposés
• NOT *Cela m'agace et ennuie
• NOT *Elle l'a aidé et donné de l'argent

In this last example it is not so much that the pronouns have different functions (le being a direct object and lui an indirect object), as that they differ in their surface forms. In the following example the first me is a direct object and the second me an indirect object, but the second me can be deleted with the auxiliary because the two me's are identical in surface form:

• Elle m'a aidé et m'a donné de l'argent
• Elle m'a aidé et donné de l'argent

Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Directly transitive verbs take the auxiliary “avoir” & The attitude of the subject to events the subjunctive.

Other Lessons

• Meaning of alors
• Active Voice and Passive Voice
• Typical use of demonstrative determiners
• Pronominal verbs without a reflexive interpretation
• Nouns which have the same spoken form but two different written forms
• Omission of the article in participle + noun constructions linked by de
• Non agreement of direct object numerals with coûter, peser and mesurer
• Subject–Verb Agreement
• Quantifiers and personal pronouns
• Compare numbers
• Summary table of subject pronouns
• Imperative mood
• Verbs whose stems end in c— or g—
• « d'autres » VS « des autres »