French Grammar Explained /
Direct object pronouns
What if we had to talk like this:
I bought a boat. I painted the boat. I named the boat "Tornado". I
sailed the boat. Eventually I sold the boat and bought a bigger boat.
We just said the boat way too many times! Luckily we can avoid unnecessary repetition like this with (object) pronouns:
I bought a boat. I painted it. I named it "Tornado". I
sailed it. Eventually I sold it and bought a bigger boat.
The object pronouns in French are le, la, & les, the same as the definite articles (the).
Je mange le pain. | → | Je le mange. |
Je mange la carotte. | → | Je la mange. |
Je mange les fraises. | → | Je les mange. |
Negation
When negating, put the ne... pas around the object and verb like this:
Je ne mange pas le pain. | → | Je ne le mange pas. |
Je ne mange pas la carotte. | → | Je ne la mange pas. |
Je ne mange pas les fraises. | → | Je ne les mange pas. |
Watch out! The object pronouns are placed directly before the verb.
Compare to English:
I (don't) eat bread. | → | I (don't) eat it. |
I (don't) eat carrot. | → | I (don't) eat it. |
I (don't) eat strawberries. | → | I (don't) eat them. |