Object pronouns are used to replace nouns and avoid repetition. In French, direct object pronouns replace the direct object of a verb and are placed before the conjugated verb. Some common direct object pronouns in French include me, te, le, la, nous and les. Direct verbs are those that can be directly followed by someone or something, like aimer (to love) or voir (to see). The direct object pronoun used to replace the direct object of a direct verb is called a direct object pronoun.

1. What’s an object pronoun ?
In a basic question such as ‘Does he love cats?’, we have a subject, a verb and an object.
subject verb object
In the answer, we will use the object pronoun them to avoid repeating the object cats
object
pronoun

2. What’s a direct object pronoun ?
To understand the label ‘direct pronoun’ you first need to understand what a
‘direct verb’ is.
A direct verb* is a verb that can be directly followed by the word someone or
something.
* as opposed to an ‘indirect’ verb eg: talk to someone (Level 2 of this course)
eg: to love someone/something
to see someone/something
to meet someone
to eat something
aimer quelqu’un /quelque chose
voir quelqu’un /quelque chose
rencontrer quelqu’un
manger quelque chose
therefore.....

3. La liste des pronoms directs
me
you
him
her
it
us
you
them
me / m’
te / t’ (inf.)
le / l’
la / l’
le / la / l’
nous
vous (form. or to a group)
les
to love
to see
to call
to meet
etc.
...a pronoun used to replace that someone or something is called a
direct pronoun. Et voilà !
aimer
voir
appeler
rencontrer
etc.

4. 1. French object pronouns are placed before the verb they relate to :
2. You cannot assume that because a verb is direct in English it
will be direct in French (and vice-versa).
To listen to someone => Écouter quelqu’un (direct)
To wait for someone =>Attendre quelqu’un (direct)
To look for someone => Chercher quelqu’un (direct)
To meet up with someone => Retrouver quelqu’un (direct)
=> je t’aime
=> j’aime te voir
Les 2 règles d’or
(golden rules)
I love you
I love to see you

5. À vous maintenant...
/ Your turn now...
You are now ready for the Level 1 exercise of this course.
Level 1 focuses on getting used to placing the pronoun before the
verb. You can type in the full answer (eg. il me connait) or just
the pronoun (eg. me or ne me for negatives).
Any feedback and/or suggestions to improve this course will
always be welcome.
Bonne leçon!