Grammaire 2: pronoms objets directs
cgloor
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Direct object
A direct object (un objet direct) is a noun — a person or thing — that someone or something acts upon. I.e. Ben eats the pizza. We call ‘the pizza’ a direct object as it is the object of the verb (to eat) and follows the verb directly. A direct object answers the questions what? or whom? I.e. Ben eats what? →The pizza.
In the following examples, you can see how Madeleine or Marc can both assume the roles of subject and object depending on word order:
| sujet | verbe | objet |
|---|---|---|
| Madeleine | voit | Marc. |
| Madeleine | sees | Marc. |
| sujet | verbe | objet |
|---|---|---|
| Marc | voit | Madeleine. |
| Marc | sees | Madeleine. |
Direct object pronoun
A direct object pronoun (un pronom objet direct) is used in place of a direct object noun to avoid repetition. In English, for example, I can replace the word pizza with the pronoun it: I eat the pizza ➔ I eat it.
In English, we can replace the names Marc and Madeleine with the direct object pronouns him and her, respectively:
| sujet | verbe | objet |
|---|---|---|
| Madeleine | sees | him. |
| sujet | verbe | objet |
|---|---|---|
| Marc | sees | her. |
In French, we would use the following pronouns:
Pronoms objets directs:
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| me, m’ | me |
| te, t’ | you |
| le, l’ | him, it |
| la, l’ | her, it |
| nous | us |
| vous | you |
| les | them |
Important notes
(a) Make an elision with me, te, le, la when placed in front of a word beginning with a vowel/mute h.
Le pain? Oui, je l’achète à la boulangerie. […l
eachète…](The bread? Yes, I purchase it at the bakery.)
(b) In French a direct object pronoun must be placed before the verb for which it is the object.
| Sujet | Pronom d’objet direct | Verbe | Traduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madeleine | le | voit | Madeleine sees him. |
| Sujet | Pronom d’objet direct | Verbe | Traduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marc | la | voit | Marc sees her. |
(c) Just like subject pronouns, the object pronouns must agree in gender and number with the nouns they are replacing. Here some more examples in French:
| exemples | explication | traduction |
|---|---|---|
| — Est-ce que tu manges souvent les gâteaux de ta mère ? | (Do you eat your mother’s cakes often?) | |
| — Oui, je les mange tout le temps ! | [les = gâteaux de ta mère (m., pl.)] | (Yes, I eat them all the time!) [them = my mother’s cakes] |
| — Tu entends la musique ? | (Do you hear the music?) | |
| — Oui, je l’entends. | [l’ = la = la musique (f., sing.] | (Yes, I hear it.) [it = the music] |
| — Est-ce que tu m’aimes ? |
[m’ = me = moi] |
(Do you love me?) |
| — Oui, je t’aime beaucoup ! |
[t’ = te = toi] |
(Yes, I love you very much!) |
(d) If a verb is followed by an infinitive, the direct object pronoun usually precedes the infinitive of which it is the object.
Pronoms d’objet direct avec constructions infinitives:
| Sujet | Verbe conjugué | Pronom d’objet direct | Infinitif | Traduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc | va | la | voir | Marc is going to see her. |
Le devoir de math? Je vais le finir demain.
(The math homework? I am going to finish it tomorrow.)
Il veut nous inviter.
(He wants to invite us.)
(e) In a negative sentence, ne precedes the object.
J’aime faire le ménage mais je ne le fais pas tous les jours.
(I like to housework but I do not do it everyday.)
