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Added by admin June 27, 2022

Pronouns replacing people

SALUT ! Today I’m going to teach you about indirect object pronouns replacing people. They can be pretty tricky so, stay focused ! First of all remember that all object pronouns, both direct and indirect, come before the verbs they relate to, in French. In this video, we are only going to look at the indirect object pronouns that replace people.  

HERE IS THE LIST

ME/M’ – to/for me 

TE/T’ – to/for you

LUI – to/for him/her/it

NOUS – to/for us

VOUS – to/for you

LEUR – to/for them

As you may have noticed, those are very similar to direct object pronouns. Please refer to my video on direct object pronouns if needed. Here’s the link: direct object pronouns lesson.The only object pronouns that are different are LUI and LEUR. Note that these pronouns are non-binary, they can refer to either a woman or a man. These indirect object pronouns replace nominal groups that come indirectly after the verb, after the preposition à (or its deritatives AU and AUX).

Practice using indirect object pronouns

IL PARLE À SES AMIS. → IL LEUR PARLE

ELLE A TÉLÉPHONÉ À SA COPINE. → ELLE LUI A TÉLÉPHONÉ.

Note that past participles never agree with indirect object pronouns. That’s important to remember.

TU VAS DONNER CE CADEAU À TON COPAIN ?

 – OUI, JE VAIS LUI DONNER CE CADEAU.  / – NON, JE NE VAIS PAS LUI DONNER CE CADEAU.

One more example :

TU ME TÉLÉPHONES TOUT À L’HEURE ?

– OUI, JE TE  TÉLÉPHONE. / – NON, JE NE TE TÉLÉPHONE PAS.

Here the preposition à/au/aux is not explicitly written. Which means, you need to know the  structure of the verb «  téléphoner » in French. You need to know that we say : téléphoner à quelqu’un = to call someone. The verb  téléphoner is structured with the preposition à/au/aux, therefore we use an indirect object pronoun. 

Common verbs often used with indirect object pronouns

DONNER À QUELQU’UN = to give someone

TÉLÉPHONER À QUELQU’UN = to call someone

OFFRIR À QUELQU’UN = to offer someone

ENVOYER À QUELQU’UN = to send someone  

ÉCRIRE À QUELQU’UN = to write to someone

PARLER À  QUELQU’UN = to talk to someone

EXPLIQUER À QUELQU’UN = to explain to someone

DIRE À QUELQU’UN = to tell someone 

PRÊTER À QUELQU’UN = to lend to someone 

EMPRUNTER À QUELQU’UN = to borrow from someone

APPORTER À QUELQU’UN = to bring someone 

How would you say “I borrowed a book from her?” –> JE LUI AI EMPRUNTÉ UN LIVRE.

What about:  “She is lending me her phone” –> ELLE ME PRÊTE SON TELEPHONE

One more, a difficult one: “I am not going to give them my phone” –> JE NE VAIS PAS LEUR DONNER MON TELEPHONE.

Ok, this should get you started. Keep practicing and you’ll get the hang of it.

That’s all for this first video. Stay tuned for an upcoming video on indirect object pronouns Y and EN. Coming soon. In the meantime, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook for your daily French fix. And on youtube for some fun video learning. 

A PLUS !