Language/French/Grammar/Optional-use-of-neutral-le

Optional use of neutral le

Neutral le is optional in the following environments:

With the verbs croire, penser, dire, vouloir, savoir when these are used as stock conversational responses to questions or statements by other people:

• Ils sont heureux? Oui, je (le) pense

Are they happy? Yes, I think so

• Est-ce que vous viendrez ce soir? Non, je ne (le) crois pas

Will you come this evening? No, I don't think so

• Elle revient directement de Londres. Oui, je (le) sais

She has come straight back from London. Yes, I know

In the second clause of a comparison (where the particle ne is also optional)

Both are typical of formal written French:

• II est autre que je (ne) (le) croyais

He is different from what I expected

• Un abonnement est moins cher que vous (ne) (le) pensez

A subscription costs less than you think

• A son âge, il faut admettre que Maurice est plus naïf qu'il (ne) devrait (l')être

When you realize how old he is, you have to admit that Maurice is more naïve than he should be