Language/French/Grammar/Recognizing-when-an-unstressed-pronoun-is-a-direct-object

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Recognizing when an unstressed pronoun is a direct object

Definitions[edit | edit source]

Subject-verb agreement[edit | edit source]

The agreement in French (the agreement) is the way to choose the correct ending for verbs in terms of grammatical persons, gender and number, depending on their subject.

Unstressed/Stressed pronoun[edit | edit source]

  • Unstressed pronouns are connected directly or indirectly to a verb.
  • Stressed pronouns are separated from the verb by a preposition usually, or even a comma.

Direct Object Pronoun[edit | edit source]

A direct object pronoun is a word such as "me", "him", "us" and "them", which is used instead of the noun to stand in for the person or thing most directly affected by the action expressed by the verb.

French direct object pronouns are:

French English French English
me (m’, moi) me nous us
te (t’, toi) you vous you
le (l’) him, it les them
la (l’) her, it    

Recognizing when an unstressed pronoun is a direct object[edit | edit source]

English speakers can remember to make the agreement between a preceding direct object pronoun and the past participle without too much difficulty. However, they often still have problems recognizing when a preceding pronoun is a direct object or not. This is particularly the case when the pronouns are "me", "te", "nous", "vous" which can act as direct object pronouns or as indirect object pronouns, and when the verbs involved are directly transitive in English but have indirectly transitive equivalents in French. For example, there is no agreement in the following cases because the pronouns are all indirect objects:

convenir à quelqu’un[edit | edit source]

  • La décision nous a convenu

The decision suited us

désobéir à quelqu’un[edit | edit source]

  • Alain vous a désobéi

Alain disobeyed you

nuire à quelqu’un[edit | edit source]

  • Victor m'a nui

Victor did me some damage

succéder à quelqu’un[edit | edit source]

  • Françoise m'a succédé

Françoise succeeded me

téléphoner à quelqu’un[edit | edit source]

  • Les voisins nous ont téléphoné

The neighbours phoned us

résister à quelqu’un[edit | edit source]

  • Les cambrioleurs nous ont résisté

The burglars resisted us

Other Chapters[edit | edit source]

Table of Contents

Nouns


Determiners


Personal and impersonal pronouns


Adjectives


Adverbs


Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers


Verb forms


Verb constructions


Verb and participle agreement


Tense


The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives


The infinitive


Prepositions


Question formation


Relative clauses


Negation


Conjunctions and other linking constructions

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

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