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French grammar

French object pronouns: le, la, lui, leur (direct and indirect)

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Conversación escrita en francés con pronombres complemento resaltados
Contents
  1. What is the difference between a COD and a COI?
  2. When do you use le, la, les?
  3. When do you use lui, leur?
  4. The verbs that trip up English speakers
  5. Where do the pronouns go?
  6. Does the past participle agree?
  7. Typical mistakes English speakers make
  8. Frequently asked questions

English uses the same pronoun whether the object is direct or indirect: "I see him", "I talk to him", "I give him the book". French does not. In French, the choice between le, la, les and lui, leur depends on whether the verb takes à or not. And that construction does not always match the English one, which is where most mistakes come from.

What is the difference between a COD and a COI?

Direct and indirect object pronouns
PersonCOD (direct)COI (indirect)
Ime (m')me (m')
you (informal)te (t')te (t')
he / shele / la (l')lui
wenousnous
you (plural or formal)vousvous
theylesleur

Only the third-person forms change: le, la, les for the direct object and lui, leur for the indirect object.

When do you use le, la, les?

With verbs that take no preposition in French:

When do you use lui, leur?

With verbs that take à + person: parler à, téléphoner à, écrire à, répondre à, demander à, donner à, dire à, sourire à, plaire à.

Lui is used for both masculine and feminine: je lui parle can mean "I talk to him" or "I talk to her".

The verbs that trip up English speakers

Some verbs do not have the same construction in the two languages:

Verbs with a different construction in French and English
In FrenchPronounCompared with English
écouter quelqu'unje l'écoutelisten to someone (no à in French)
attendre quelqu'unje l'attendswait for someone (no preposition in French)
chercher quelqu'unje le cherchelook for someone (no preposition in French)
téléphoner à quelqu'unje lui téléphonephone someone (à in French)
répondre à quelqu'unje lui répondsanswer someone (à in French)
demander à quelqu'unje lui demandeask someone (à in French)
obéir à quelqu'unje lui obéisobey someone (à in French)

The English preposition is not a reliable guide: "listen to", "wait for" and "look for" take a direct object in French (le, la), while "phone", "answer" and "ask" take à and therefore lui.

Where do the pronouns go?

Does the past participle agree?

With avoir, the past participle agrees with the direct object if it comes before the verb: La série ? Je l'ai vue. Les photos ? Je les ai prises. There is no agreement with an indirect object: Je lui ai parlé. In speech you can hardly hear it, but in writing and in the DELF it counts.

Typical mistakes English speakers make

  1. ✗ Je lui écoute (from "I listen to him") → ✓ Je l'écoute.
  2. ✗ J'attends pour lui (from "I am waiting for him") → ✓ Je l'attends.
  3. ✗ Je le téléphone → ✓ Je lui téléphone.
  4. ✗ Je le dis la vérité (from "I tell him the truth") → ✓ Je lui dis la vérité.
  5. ✗ Je lui le donne → ✓ Je le lui donne. With two pronouns, le / la / les come before lui / leur.

To check how a verb is constructed, look it up in Le Robert: it shows whether it takes quelqu'un or à quelqu'un. And remember that for places and things introduced by à or de, you use the pronouns y and en.

Frequently asked questions

Is lui masculine or feminine?

Both. Je lui parle can refer to a man or a woman. Only the context makes it clear.

Is it "je l'écoute" or "je lui écoute"?

Je l'écoute, because French says écouter quelqu'un, with no preposition, even though English says "listen to".

What order do two pronouns go in?

Me, te, nous, vous come first; then le, la, les; then lui, leur; and finally y and en: Il me le donne. Je le lui donne. Je leur en parle.

Why is it "parle-lui" but "ne lui parle pas"?

In the affirmative imperative the pronoun goes after the verb with a hyphen; in the negative imperative it goes back to its usual place, before the verb.