Language/French/Grammar/Object-pronouns-Correctly-identifying-the-direct-and-indirect-objects-in-English-and-French

Object pronouns: Correctly identifying the direct and indirect objects in English and French

Many of the problems which learners have with pronouns are not caused by a failure to know what the pronouns are, but by a failure to recognize which pronoun French requires in a particular structure. This is especially true of indirect object pronouns.

The structure of English and French verbs, even when they have similar meanings, is not necessarily the same: in a given sentence it is essential to know whether the object is direct or indirect in relation to the French verb and NOT the English verb.

Thus, in the English sentence 'They advised Stéphane to leave', 'Stéphane' is the direct object of 'advised', and with a pronoun the sentence becomes 'They advised him to leave'. But in the French equivalent - Ils ont conseillé à Stéphane de partir - Stéphane is the indirect object of conseiller. With a pronoun the French sentence becomes: Ils lui ont conseillé de partir

Table Personal and impersonal pronouns : Summary table of object pronouns

Table y and en

Pronoun	Stands in the place of
y	a phrase introduced by à, en, dans, sur
	e.g. à Paris, en ville, dans sa chambre
en	a phrase which begins with de
	e.g. de son idée

Related Lessons

• Infinitives
• Coordination of subject pronouns
• on as an alternative to the English passive
• Position of object pronouns with devoir, pouvoir + infinitives
• Common Mistakes
• “en” when numbers are direct objects
• Past participles used as adjectives with the verb être
• Nouns with irregular plurals
• Differences in the use of numbers in French and English Kings, queens and popes
• Adjectives agreeing with just one noun
• English and French adverb formation
• Indirectly transitive in French but directly transitive in English
• Well Better Worse
• Order of unstressed object pronouns when more than one is present
• The partitive article "du", "de l'", "de la" and "des"