Personal pronouns - Order of pronouns
1 General
As has been mentioned,
object pronouns
come before the
verb
in a
simple tense
or before the
auxiliary
verb
avoir or être in a
compound tense
:
Tu connais Paul? - Oui, je le
connais
Do you know Paul? - Yes, I know him
As-tu trouvé tes lunettes? - Oui, je les
ai trouvées
Did you find your glasses? - Yes, I did find them
2 Two pronouns
In cases where there are two
pronouns
the order is as follows:
Fig.1 Diagram showing the order of pronouns
This order is the same for
affirmative
sentences:
Elle me les a rendus
She gave them back to me
Ils nous en prêteront
They will lend us some
Il y en a encore
There are more of them
negative
sentences:
Je ne la lui ai pas envoyée
I didn't send it to him / her
Ils ne nous en prêteront pas
They won't lend us any
Il n'y en a plus
There aren't more of them
and all types of questions, including
negative
questions:
Me les a-t-elle rendus?
Did she give them back to me?
Nous en prêteront-ils?
Will they lend us some?
Ne la lui ai-je pas envoyée?
Didn't I send it to him / her?
Y en a-t-il encore?
Are there any more of them?
Tu ne devrais pas emmener tes parents dans ce restaurant. Je ne les y emmènerai pas, donc!
You shouldn’t take your parents to that restaurant. I won’t take them there then.
N’a-t-il pas encore remboursé l’argent à ses parents? Si, il le leur a remboursé.
Has he still not paid back the money to his parents? Yes, he has paid it back to them.
Il n’a rien dit de tout cela à sa femme? Non, il ne lui en a rien dit.
He didn’t tell his wife anything about this? No, he didn’t tell her anything about it.
Je ne savais pas qu’en France les musées sont fermés le mardi. Personne ne nous l’a dit.
I didn’t know that in France museums are closed on Tuesdays. No-one told us.
Il faut absolument que je tonde la pelouse de mes grands-parents demain. Je le leur ai promis.
I absolutely must mow my grand-parents’ lawn tomorrow. I promised them.
3 Use before infinitives
When a
verb
is used with an
infinitive
, the
pronouns
tend to come directly
before the infinitive:
Je compte la leur présenter
I'm planning on introducing her to them
J'aurais bien aimé l'avoir
rencontrée
I really would have liked to have met her
4 Use in imperative
4.1 Affirmative imperative
In the
affirmative
imperative
, pronouns come after the
verb
and are linked
to it by a hyphen. Note that moi and toi
are used instead of me and te:
Tu veux du chocolat? Prends-en!
Do you want some chocolate? Take some!
Ce sera bientôt l'anniversaire de ta mère. Envoie-lui
une carte!
It will soon be your mother's birthday. Send her a card!
Tu as trouvé ses clefs? Donne-les-lui!
Have you found his / her keys? Give them to him / her!
Tu as des photos? Montre-les-moi!
Do you have some photos? Show them to me!
Corrige-la quand elle fait des fautes. Sinon elle n’apprendra jamais à parler couramment.
Correct her when she makes mistakes. Otherwise she’ll never learn to speak fluently.
Ces lunettes sont à Véronique. Donne-les-lui.
These glasses are Véronique’s. Give them to her.
Marie a beaucoup de travail à faire. Donnons-lui un coup de main.
Marie has a lot of work to do. Let’s give her a hand.
Les enfants n’ont rien à faire. Emmenons-les au cinéma.
The children have nothing to do. Let’s take them to the cinema.
Il conduit trop vite. Dites-lui de ralentir.
He’s driving too fast. Tell him to slow down.
4.2 Negative imperative
In the
negative
imperative
, however, pronouns come before the
verb
. Moi
and toi revert to me and
te:
Ne les lui donne pas!
Don't give them to him / her!
Ne me les montre pas!
Don't show them to me!
Ne m'en donne pas!
Don't give me any!
Ne leur en achète
pas!
Don't buy them any!
Ne lui écris pas à cette adresse. Il a déménagé.
Don’t write to him at that address. He’s moved.
Elle a une commission à faire pour sa mère, alors ne lui téléphone pas tout de suite.
She’s got an errand to do for her mother, so don’t phone her straightaway.
Martha a de la température. Ne l’envoyons pas à l’école aujourd’hui.
Martha has a temperature. Let’s not send her to school today.
Ne lui donnez pas l’argent. Il n’a pas encore fini le travail.
Don’t give him the money. He hasn’t finished the job yet.
S’il te le demande, ne lui donne pas la réponse.
If he asks, don’t tell him the answer.
