Fiches de Grammaire #5

Question 1

Object Pronouns

Direct and indirect objects

Answer 1

• Direct and indirect object pronouns generally precede the verbs of which they are objects.
• In a simple tense, such as the present, the futur, or the imparfait, the object pronoun is placed in front of the verb.

Question 2

Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns: What do they do?

Answer 2

Direct object pronouns directly receive the action of a verb

Examples:

Je l’aime (I love him or her)

Elle nous voient (They see us)

Question 3

Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns: What do they do?

Answer 3

Indirect object pronouns identify to whom or for whom an action is done.

Examples:

Tu me parles? (Are you speaking to me?)

Elle vous a achéte une robe bleue? (She bought a blue dress for you?)

Question 4

Direct Object Pronouns:

What are they? (6)

Answer 4

me/ m’

te/ t’

le/ la/ l’

nous

vous

les

Question 5

Indirect Object Pronouns:

What are they? (6)

Answer 5

me / m’

te / t’

lui

nous

vous

leur

Question 6

When a pronoun is the object of a compound tense, such as the passé composé

Where do you place it?

Answer 6

When a pronoun is the object of a compound tense, such as the passé composé, it is placed in front of the helping verb.

Examples:

Vous l‘avez attendu? (Did you wait for him/ it?)

Je lui ai envoyé une lettre (I sent him/her a letter).

Question 7

When a pronoun is the object of an infinitive, where do you place it?

Answer 7

When a pronoun is the object of an infinitive, it is placed in front of the infinitive

Examples:

Nous voudrions t’inviter chez nous (We would like to invite you to our place)

Elle va leur écrire une carte postale. (She is going to write them a postcard)

Question 8

Singular direct pronouns in the third person.

Answer 8

In the third person, singular direct pronouns have gender. The indirect object lui does not

Question 9

The indirect objects lui and leur

Answer 9

Lui and Leur refer only to people and animals

Example:

Nous lui parlons (We are speaking to him/her)

Question 10

Direct object pronouns le, la, and les

Answer 10

The direct object pronouns le, la, and les refer to people, animals, and things.

Examples:

Nous le voyons (We see him/it)

Nous la voyons (We see her/it)

Question 11

Negation with Object Pronouns

Answer 11

In most negative sentences, place ne…pas around the object pronoun and the conjugated verb.

Examples:

Il ne m’aime pas (He doesn’t like me)

Je ne t’ai pas vu(e) (I didn’t see you)

Question 12

Negation with Object Pronouns

(In sentences with infinitives)

Answer 12

In sentences with infinitives, ne…pas goes around the conjugated verb, but the object pronoun usually goes before the infinitive

Example:

Tu ne vas pas l’écouter (You are not going to listen to it)

Question 13

Past Participle Agreement:

When the helping verb is être

Answer 13

• When the helping verb is être, the past participle agrees with the subject
• Examples:*

Anne est partie à six heures (Anne left at 6 o’clock)

Nous sommes arrivés en avance (We arrived early)

Question 14

Past Participle Agreement:

Verbs that take être as the helping verb

Answer 14

• Verbs that take être as the helping verb usually do not have direct objects
• When they do, they take the helping verb Avoir, in which case there is no past participle agreement.
• Examples:*

Elle est sortie (She went out)

Elle a sorti la poubelle (She took out the trash)

Question 15

Reflexive Verbs and the helping verb être

Answer 15

• Reflexive verbs take the helping verb être in compound tenses like the passé composé and plus-que-parfait.
• The past participle agrees with the reflexive pronoun if the reflexive pronoun functions as a direct object
• Examples:*

Nous nous sommes habillées (We got dressed)

Michèle s‘etait réveillée (Michelle had woken up)

Question 16

If a direct object follows the past participle of a reflexive verb

Answer 16

If a direct object follows the past participle of a reflexive verb, no agreement occurs

Example:

Nadia s’est coupée (Nadia cut herself)

BUT

Nadia s’est coupé le doigt (Nadia cut her finger)

Question 17

Indirect Object pronouns

Answer 17

• If an object pronoun is indirect, rather than direct, the past participle does not agree.
• This also means there is no past participle agreement with several common reciprocal verbs, such as se demander, s’écrire, se parler, se rendre compte, and se téléphoner.
• Examples:*

Elle nous a téléphoné (she called us)

Nous nous sommes téléphoné (We called each other)

Question 18

Past Participle Agreement:

Compound Tenses with Avoir

Answer 18

• In compound tenses with Avoir, past participles agree with preceding direct object pronouns.
• No agreement occurs with a direct object that is a noun rather than a pronoun
• Examples:*

J’ai mis les fleurs sur la table (I put the flowers on the table)

Je les ai mises sur la table (I put them on the table)

Question 19

Past Participle Agreements:

Structures that use the relative pronoun que

Answer 19

In structures that use the relative pronoun que, past participles agree with their direct objects

Examples:

Voici les pommes que j’ai achetées (Here are the apples that I bought)

Il parle des buts qu‘il a atteints (He’s talking about the goals he reached)