Lesson 15

Question 1

Translate to French:

He read the books. He read them several times

Answer 1

Il a lu les livres. Il les a lus plusieurs fois

Recall that object pronouns should precede the verb (except in the affirmative imperative). Also recall that the past participle must agree in gender and number with the direct object pronoun when it is placed before the verb.

Question 2

Translate to French:

Don’t forget to call Pierre. Don’t forget to call him

Answer 2

N’oublie pas de téléphoner à Pierre. N’oublie pas de lui téléphoner

The indirect object pronoun lui is used here because the preposition à follows the verb téléphoner.

Question 3

Translate to French:

I spoke to Jean. I spoke to him

Answer 3

J’ai parlé à Jean. Je lui ai parlé

An indirect object pronoun is used here because the preposition à follows the verb parler.

Question 4

When two (object, reflexive, or adverbial) pronouns are used in a sentence, both pronouns precede the verb in a particular order. What is the correct order for pronoun placement?

Answer 4

me/te/se/nous/vous then le/la/les then lui/leur then y then en

• The first group consists of pronouns that can function as reflexive pronouns. Four of them (me/te/nous/vous) can also be both direct and indirect object pronouns.
• The second group contains pronouns that are only direct object pronouns.
• The third group consists of pronouns that are only indirect object pronouns.
• Finally, the adverbial pronouns come last, with y coming first.

Note that this order does not apply to the affirmative imperative.

Question 5

Translate to French:

I told it to him

Answer 5

Je le lui ai dit

Here, both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun are used. The subject comes first, followed by the direct object pronoun (le), then the indirect object pronoun (lui), then the verb.

Question 6

Translate to French:

She gives the flowers to her friends. She gives them to them

Answer 6

Elle donne les fleurs à ses amis. Elle les leur donne

In this sentence, both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun are used. Both precede the verb, with the direct object pronoun (les) coming first, followed by the indirect object pronoun (leur).

Question 7

Translate to French:

He told the story to his friend. He told it to him

Answer 7

Il a raconté l’histoire à son ami. Il la lui a racontée

Note the addition of an extra “e” to the past participle, since the feminine direct object pronoun la precedes the verb.

Question 8

Translate to French:

He asked his students the question. He asked them it

Answer 8

Il a posé la question à ses étudiants. Il la leur a posée

Note that in the second sentence, posée agrees with the preceding singular feminine direct object pronoun la.

Question 9

Translate to French:

The teacher showed the answers to her students. The teacher showed them to them

Answer 9

L’institutrice a montré les réponses à ses élèves. Elle les leur a montrées

The past participle in the second sentence is plural and feminine to agree with the feminine plural direct object pronoun that precedes it.

Question 10

Translate to French:

She gave me the shoe. She gave it to me

Answer 10

Elle m’a donné la chaussure. Elle me l’a donnée

Note how the indirect object pronoun (me) comes before the direct object pronoun (l’, contracted from la). In a sentence with two pronouns, me/te/se/nous/vous are the first pronouns to precede a verb, followed by le/la/les.

Question 11

Translate to French:

Did they show them to you?

Answer 11

Est-ce qu’ils te les ont montrés?

When two pronouns are used, the pronouns me/te/se/nous/vous come first. This first group contains pronouns that can all function as reflexive pronouns. Four of them, me/te/nous/vous, can also function as both direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns.

Question 12

Translate to French:

We remember the book. We remember it

Answer 12

Nous nous rappelons du livre. Nous nous en rappelons

Here, two pronouns are used: a reflexive pronoun (for the pronominal verb se rappeler) and the adverbial pronoun en (replacing du livre). Both precede the verb, with the reflexive pronoun coming first.

Question 13

Translate to French:

He put the shirt on the desk. He put the shirt there

Answer 13

Il a mis la chemise sur le bureau. Il y a mis la chemise

Recall that the adverbial pronoun y can replace prepositional phrases starting with any preposition other than de as long as they refer to things.

Question 14

Translate to French:

I ate some of the soup. I ate some of it

Answer 14

J’ai mangé de la soupe. J’en ai mangé

Recall that prepositional phrases beginning with de can be replaced by the adverbial pronoun en. Here, it takes on the meaning “some (of it).” Note how the past participle does not agree with en, even though it applies to a phrase with a feminine noun.

Question 15

Translate to French:

There is food. There is some

Answer 15

Il y a de la nourriture. Il y en a

Question 16

Translate to French:

There are two children. There are two (of them)

Answer 16

Il y a deux enfants. Il y en a deux

Recall that the pronoun en can be used with expressions of quantity. Note that en cannot replace deux in this sentence. The noun is replaced, but the quantity word always stays.

Question 17

Translate to French:

He’s not buying any apples at the store. He’s not buying any there

Answer 17

Il n’achète pas de pommes au magasin. Il n’y en achète pas

Here, the adverbial pronouns y and en are both used in the sentence. Y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place, while en replaces a phrase consisting of de + a noun.

Question 18

Translate to French:

I ate a lot of pizza at the restaurant. I ate a lot (of it) there

Answer 18

J’ai mangé beaucoup de pizza au restaurant. J’y en ai mangé beaucoup

If both y and en are used in the same sentence, both should precede the verb, but y should come first. Note how the quantity word, beaucoup, stays.

Question 19

Translate to French:

I will give some to you

Answer 19

Je t’en donnerai

Recall that in sentences with more than one pronoun, adverbial pronouns should come last (before the verb). Here, therefore, the object pronoun t’ comes first.

Question 20

Translate to French:

She will talk to you guys about this. She will talk to you about it

Answer 20

Elle vous parlera de cela. Elle vous en parlera

Note how the object pronoun vous comes before the adverbial pronoun en.

Question 21

Translate to French:

He is going to meet us there

Answer 21

Il va nous y rencontrer

Note how both pronouns come before the infinitive here, not before the conjugated verb.

Question 22

Translate to French:

You guys did not give it to him

Answer 22

Vous ne le lui avez pas donné

In a negative sentence with two pronouns, the negative ne precedes the pronouns, which precede the main verb. The negative adverb (pas) still follows the main (conjugated) verb as always.

Question 23

Translate to French:

Did you guys send it to us?

Answer 23

Nous l’avez-vous envoyé? / Est-ce que vous nous l’avez envoyé?

In a question, the order of pronouns stays the same. Note the two ways of asking the question, one with inversion and the other with est-ce que.

Question 24

Translate to French:

Do not talk to them about this! Do not talk to them about it!

Answer 24

Ne leur parle pas de cela! Ne leur en parle pas!

In a negative command with two pronouns, the placement of the pronouns and the negative ne is the same as it is for all other tenses: they come before the verb.

Question 25

Translate to French:

Do not tell it to him!

Answer 25

Ne le lui dis pas!

Question 26

Translate to French:

Talk to the professor. Talk to him

Answer 26

Parlez au professeur. Parlez-lui

Recall that in affirmative commands, the pronouns follow the verb and are attached to it with a hyphen.

Question 27

Translate to French:

Go to the park. Go there

Answer 27

Va au parc. Vas-y

Recall that in the imperative, a verb ending in a vowel takes an “s” when followed by y or en.

Question 28

When two pronouns are used with the affirmative imperative, the word order of the pronouns differs than that for all other tenses. What is the correct order?

Answer 28

le/la/les then moi/toi/lui then nous/vous/leur then y then en

Question 29

Translate to French:

(formal) Give some food to the boy. Give him some

Answer 29

Donnez de la nourriture au garçon. Donnez-lui-en

Note how the affirmative imperative is used here with more than one object pronoun. When there are two pronouns in an affirmative command, the pronouns follow the verb and are joined to it and to each other with hyphens.

Question 30

Translate to French:

You have my computer? Give it to me!

Answer 30

Tu as mon ordinateur? Donne-le-moi!

In the affirmative imperative, me and te become moi and toi (unless they are followed by y or en, in which case they change to m’ and t’).

Question 31

Translate to French:

Go away!

Answer 31

Va-t’en!

Recall that the verb “to go away” is reflexive: s’en aller. Also note how neither te nor toi is used here; t’ is used because it is followed by en.

Question 32

Translate to French:

Send the letter to the kids. Send it to them

Answer 32

Envoie la lettre aux enfants. Envoie-la-leur

Question 33

Translate to French:

Sell them some

Answer 33

Vendez-leur-en

Question 34

Translate to French:

Find it for us

Answer 34

Trouve-le-nous