Les Pronoms

Personal Pronouns
Conjunctive Pronouns are those pronouns which cannot be used alone or apart from
the verb. They always have to stick closely to the verb. Conjunctive Pronouns can
broadly be divided into: 1. Subject Pronouns 2. Object Pronouns.
The Object Pronouns are further sub-divided into:
1) Direct Objects 2) Indirect Objects 3) Y 4)En
1.Subject Pronouns: Subject Pronouns come right in the beginning of the sentence,
before the verb or after the verb in an interrogative.
Note that Subject Pronouns are placed in the same place as the Subject Nouns.
Eg: 1. Pierre et moi allons au cinéma. (Peter and I go to the cinema.)
- Nous allons au cinéma. (We go to the cinema.)
2. Où sont les clés? (Where are the keys?)

- Où sont-elles? (Where are they?)
Direct Object Pronouns

Direct Object nouns directly follow the verb without any preposition coming in
between. They can refer to persons or things.
Direct Objects can be identified by asking the question ‘Whom’ (qui) or ‘What’ (quoi)
after the verb.
me (me, myself) nous (us, ourselves)
te (you, yourself) vous (you, yourselves)
Le (him, it) Les (them)
La (her, it) Les (them)
To identify a direct object in a sentence, ask the question ‘quoi’ for things and ‘qui’
for persons after the verb.
For example:
1. Je prends une robe.
Ans: Je la prends.
2. Les étudiants regardent les professeurs.

Ans: Les étudiants les regardent.
3. Il connaît Anuj et moi
Ans: Il nous connaît.
Indirect Object Pronouns

me - to me nous - to us
te - to you vous - to you
lui - to him leur - to them
lui - to her leur - to them
Indirect object pronouns replace nouns which are the indirect object of the verb and
are preceded by the preposition ‘à’, ‘à la’, ‘aux’, ‘au’, à l’. In order to identify the
indirect object in a sentence, ask the question ‘à qui’ after the verb.
For example:
1. Je parle à Paul.
- Je lui parle.
2. Il donne les fiches à l’étudiant.

- Il lui donne les fiches.
Pronoun ‘en’ and ‘y’:
The Pronoun en (meaning ‘some’, ‘any’, ‘of it’, ‘of them’) when used as partitive
articles. However, it can also be used as an adverbial pronoun of place and can then
mean ‘from it’, ‘from them’.
This pronoun usually replaces a noun introduced by ‘de’, ‘du’, ‘de la’ or ‘des’ or
numbers or quantities.
For example:
1. Ils mangent des pommes.

- Ils en mangent.
2. Elle ne mange pas de viande.

- Elle n’en mange pas.
The Pronoun y (meaning ‘there’, ‘to it’, ‘on it’, ‘in it’).
This pronoun usually replaces a noun introduced by prepositions like ‘à’, ‘dans’, ‘sur’
and ‘chez’ and refers to a place or things.
For example:
1. Nous allons à l’école.

- Nous y allons.
2. Je vais à Paris aujourd’hui.

- J' y vais aujourd’hui.
Placing of the Object Pronouns:
1. In Simple Tenses like the Present Tense, the Imparfait and the Simple Future, the
Conjunctive Object Pronouns are placed immediately before the verb.
Eg. (a) Je vois Pierre. (I see Pierre.)

- Je le vois. (I see him.)
(b) Je parle à Pierre. (I speak to Pierre.)

- Je lui parle. (I speak to him.)
(c) Je ne parle pas à Marie. (I do not speak to Marie.)

- Je ne lui parle pas. (I do not speak to her.)
(d) Aimez-vous Pierre ? (Do you like Pierre?)

- L’aimez-vous ? (Do you like him.)
(e) N’aimez-vous pas Marie? (Don’t you like Maire?)

- Ne l’aimez-vous pas ? (Don’t you like her?)
2. In the Futur Proche, Passé Récent and whenever there is an infinitive following the
verb, the object pronouns come before the Infinitive:
Eg. (a) Je vais parler à Pierre. (I am going to speak to Pierre.)

- Je vais lui parler. (I am going to speak to him.)
(b) Elle ne va pas attendre Marie. (She is not going to wait for Marie.)
- Elle ne va pas l’attendre. (She is not going to wait for her.)
(c) Vient-il de rencontrer les filles ? (Has he just met the girls?)
- Vient-il de les rencontrer ? (Has he just met them?)
(Note that ‘de’ and ‘les’ do not contract to ‘des’, since ‘les’ is an object pronoun and
not a definite article.)
(d) N’aimez-vous pas manger les fruits. (Don’t you like to eat fruits?)
- N’aimez-vous pas les manger? (Don’t you like to eat them?)
3. In the Imperative Affirmative, the Object Pronouns come immediately after the
verb and are joined to it with a hyphen.
‘Me’ and ‘te’ change to ‘moi’ and ‘toi’.
Examples:
Eg. (a) Parlez à Pierre. (Speak to Pierre.)

- Parlez-lui. (Speak to him.)
(b) Regardez Marie. (Look at Marie.)

- Regardez-la. (Look at her.)
(c) Va au collège. (Go to the college.)

- Vas-y. (Go there.)
(Note: Since ‘Va’ and ‘y’ clash, we bring back the ‘s’ of the ‘tu’ form which is usually
canceled in the Imperative.)
Similarly:
(d) Donne des livres à Marie. (Give some books to Marie.)
- Donnes-en à Marie. (Give some to her.)
(The ‘s’ of the ‘Tu’ form is again brought back to avoid the clashing of vowels.)
4. However, In the Imperative Negative the Object pronouns go back to their original
place before the verb and change back to me and te.
Examples:
(a) Ne regardez pas Marie. (Don't look at Marie.)
- Ne la regardez pas. (Don't look at her.)
(b) Ne m’écoutez pas. (Don't listen to me.)
(c) Ne donnez pas les fleurs à Marie.

- Ne les donnez pas à Marie.
5. When using 'Voici' and 'Voilà', the direct object pronouns come before 'Voici' and
'Voilà'.
Examples:
(a) Où sont les livres ? Les voici. (Where are the books? Here they are.)
(b) Où est Paul ? Le voilà. (Where is Paul? There he is.)

(c) Où est Marie ? La voici. (Where is Marie? Here she is.)
d) Voici les livres.

- Les voici.
Pronoms Toniques et disjoints (Emphatic and disjunctive)
Disjunctive Pronouns are those Pronouns which can be used alone or apart from the
verb. They are also known as Emphatic pronouns, because they are often used to
emphasize a Subject noun or a pronoun.
Emphatic Pronoms Disjunctive
I moi Me
You toi You
He lui Him
She elle Her
We nous Us
You vous You
They eux Them
They elles Them

*Like Subject Pronouns, disjunctive pronouns also do not change their place.*
As emphatic pronouns these pronouns are used:

1. For emphasis: The pronouns can be used to give emphasis and are placed before
the subject pronouns.
For example:
(a) I, I always study but John, he never studies.

- Moi, j'étudie toujours mais John, il n' étudie jamais.
- Moi, j'étudie toujours, mais lui, il n'étudie jamais.
(b) I have a headache, but as for the children (they), are fine.
- J'ai mal à la tête, mais les enfants, eux, sont en pleine forme.
2. Alone, or after C'est and Ce sont:

For example:
(a) Who is there? Me. (Or it's me.)

- Qui est là ?
- Moi ou (C'est moi.)
(b) It is Marie who arrives late.
- C'est Marie qui arrive en retard.
- C'est elle qui arrive en retard.
(c) It is John and I who leave early.

- C'est John et moi qui partons en avance.
- C'est nous qui partons en avance.
(d) It is Jean and Pierre who make a noise.

- Ce sont Jean et Pierre qui font du bruit.
- Ce sont eux qui font du bruit.
As Disjunctive Pronouns these pronouns are used as:
1. After Prepositions: (eg. avec, sans, devant, derrière, chez, pour and à and de if they
are not underlined)
Example:
(a) I go with Pierre.

- Je vais avec Pierre.
- Je vais avec lui.
(b) She leaves without Hélène and Jeanne.

- Elle part sans Hélène et Jeanne.
- Elle part sans elles.
(c) He goes to the house of the Vincents.

- Il va chez les Vincent.
-Il va chez eux.
2. After comparisons:
Example:
(a) John is taller than Marie.

- John est plus grand que Marie.
- Il est plus grand qu'elle.
(b) Rita is less tall than Jean.

- Rita est moins grande que Jean.
- Elle est moins grande que lui.
(c) We are as intelligent as Jean and Paul.
- Nous sommes aussi intelligents que Jean et Paul.
- Nous sommes aussi intelligents qu'eux.
(d) I am not as fat as Paul and you.

- Je ne suis pas si gros que Paul et toi.
- Je ne suis pas si gros que vous.
(Note that si- que is only used in the negative form).

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Personal Pronouns

2. Où sont les clés? (Where are the keys?)

Direct Object Pronouns

2. Les étudiants regardent les professeurs.

Indirect Object Pronouns

2. Il donne les fiches à l’étudiant.

1. Ils mangent des pommes.

2. Elle ne mange pas de viande.

1. Nous allons à l’école.

2. Je vais à Paris aujourd’hui.

Eg. (a) Je vois Pierre. (I see Pierre.)

(b) Je parle à Pierre. (I speak to Pierre.)

(c) Je ne parle pas à Marie. (I do not speak to Marie.)

(d) Aimez-vous Pierre ? (Do you like Pierre?)

(e) N’aimez-vous pas Marie? (Don’t you like Maire?)

Eg. (a) Je vais parler à Pierre. (I am going to speak to Pierre.)

‘Me’ and ‘te’ change to ‘moi’ and ‘toi’.

Eg. (a) Parlez à Pierre. (Speak to Pierre.)

(b) Regardez Marie. (Look at Marie.)

(c) Va au collège. (Go to the college.)

(b) Ne m’écoutez pas. (Don't listen to me.)

(c) Ne donnez pas les fleurs à Marie.

(b) Où est Paul ? Le voilà. (Where is Paul? There he is.)

d) Voici les livres.

Emphatic Pronoms Disjunctive

You toi You

She elle Her

You vous You

They eux Them

They elles Them

As emphatic pronouns these pronouns are used:

(a) I, I always study but John, he never studies.

2. Alone, or after C'est and Ce sont:

(a) Who is there? Me. (Or it's me.)

(c) It is John and I who leave early.

(d) It is Jean and Pierre who make a noise.

As Disjunctive Pronouns these pronouns are used as:

(a) I go with Pierre.

(b) She leaves without Hélène and Jeanne.

(c) He goes to the house of the Vincents.

(a) John is taller than Marie.

(b) Rita is less tall than Jean.

(d) I am not as fat as Paul and you.

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