French Double Object Pronouns: A Grammar Note

In this post we’ll look at French double object pronoun constructions. That is, we’ll learn about sentences in which a verb has both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun together. First, we’ll define both types of objects with examples. Next, we’ll see the forms of direct and indirect object pronouns. After that, we’ll learn some rules of placement of both types of object pronouns in a sentence. We’ll include several examples throughout.

What Are Direct and Indirect Objects?

First, let’s see some examples of both direct and indirect objects in French.

Direct Object

A direct object is the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb. It answers the question what? or whom? French direct object nouns come after the verb, just as in English:

• Je vois le chien.
  I see the dog.
• Nous invitons Marie.
  We invite Marie.

If a direct object pronoun is used instead of a noun, it comes before the verb. You can read much more about French direct object pronouns in this post.

• Je le vois.
  I see it/him.
• Nous l’invitons.
  We invite her.

Indirect Object

An indirect object is the person (or sometimes thing) who benefits from or is affected by the action. In English, it answers the question to whom? or for whom? In French, an indirect object noun is usually introduced by à (to).

• Je parle à Pauline.
  I speak to Pauline.
• Elle écrit à ses frères.
  She writes to her brothers.

Like French direct object pronouns, French indirect object pronouns come before the verb. You can reach much more about French indirect object pronouns in this post.

• Je lui parle.
  I speak to her.
• Elle leur écrit.
  She writes to them.

Forms of Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

Now let’s review the forms of both French direct and indirect object pronouns. Notice that they’re only different in the third person (il/elle and ils/elles).

subject pronouns	direct object pronouns	indirect object pronouns
je (j’)	me (m’)	me (m’)
tu	te (t’)	te (t’)
il/elle	le (l’), la (l’)	lui
nous	nous	nous
vous	vous	vous
ils/elles	les	leur

Placement of Double Object Pronouns

When both direct and indirect object pronouns are used, the rule-of-thumb placement is:

 (me / te / nous / vous) > le / la / l’ / les  > lui / leur > verb.

In other words, the relative order of direct and indirect object pronouns depends on what the indirect object pronoun is.

Indirect Object = me, te, nous, or vous	Indirect object = lui or leur
Indirect Object > Direct Object	Direct Object > Indirect Object

The only time that this is not true is with commands, which have a fixed word order. We’ll see examples below.

Order 1: me, te, nous, vous > le, la, l’, les

If the indirect object is first or second person (me, te, nous, or vous), it comes before direct object pronoun. In negative sentences, ne…pas (plus, jamais, etc) go around the entire pronoun-verb complex.

• Elle me le montre.
  She shows it to me.
• Tu nous la donnes.
  You give it to us.
• Nous ne vous les envoyons pas.
  We are not sending them to you.
• La prof me l’explique.
  The teacher explains it to me.

Order 2: le, la, l’, les > lui, leur

If the indirect object pronoun is third person (lui or leur), it comes after the direct object pronoun. Again, if there’s a negative, it goes around the entire complex.

• Je le lui donne.
  I give it to him.
• Elle le leur explique.
  She explains it to them.
• Ils le lui montrent.
  They show it to him.
• Si tu ne le lui dis pas, je le lui dirai!
  If you don’t say it to her, I will say it to her!
• Je ne le leur donne pas.
  I’m not giving it to them.

With Auxiliaries

If there is an auxiliary verb, for example in the past tense, the order of pronouns is the same, and they come before the conjugated auxiliary. Remember that the past participle will agree with the direct object pronoun, but never the indirect object pronoun.

• Je le lui ai donné.
  I gave it to him.
• Elle les leur a écrits.
  She wrote them to them.
• Les cartes ? Je te les ai déjà envoyées.
  The cards? I’ve already sent them to you.

With Infinitives

Now let’s look at constructions with infinitives, for example the future with aller or modals like devoir or vouloir. Here, the pronouns maintain the same relative order, but come before the infinitive.

• Je dois le leur montrer.
  I have to show it to them.
• Je vais le lui donner.
  I am going to give it to him.
• Nous allons te les envoyer.
  We are going to send them to you.
• Elle vient de nous le dire.
  She’s just said it to us.

In Commands

When you use commands, both pronouns follow the verb, and the order is always direct object pronoun before indirect object pronoun. In writing, attach them all with hyphens.

• Donne-le-lui !
  Give it to him!
• Montre-la-moi !
  Show it to me!
• Envoyez-les-leur.
  Send them to them.

Direct Object me / te / nous / vous with Indirect Objects

In all of the cases so far, we’ve seen examples of double objects involving third person direct objects (le, la, l’, or les). So what happens if the direct object is first (me, nous) or second (te, vous) person? In these cases, French doesn’t use two object pronouns before the verb, and instead it changes the indirect object to an à phrase following the verb. Remember that a different set of pronouns is used after prepositions: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux.

• Il me présente à elle.
  He introduces me to her.
• Il me présente à toi.
  He introduces me to you.
• Elle te confie à moi.
  She entrusts you to me.
• Elle nous confie à lui.
  She entrusts us to him.
• On nous recommande à vous.
  They recommend us to you.
• On te remettra à eux.
  They’ll hand you over to them.

Practice

Rephrase the following sentences by replacing both the direct object noun and the indirect object noun with pronouns. Translate.

1. Je montre la photo à ma sœur.
2. Nous prêtons la voiture à nos voisins.
3. Tu donnes les clés à ton père.
4. Elle envoie la carte postale à ses amis.
5. Il prête son stylo à moi.
6. Vous offrez les fleurs à votre mère.
7. Je dis la vérité à mes parents.
8. Ils donnent la balle aux enfants.
9. Elle lit l’histoire à ses enfants.
10. Nous expliquons les règles à toi.

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Answers

1. Je la lui montre. I show it to her.
2. Nous la leur prêtons. We lend it to them.
3. Tu les lui donnes. You give them to him.
4. Elle la leur envoie. She sends it to them.
5. Il me le prête. He lends it to me.
6. Vous les lui offrez. You offer them to her.
7. Je la leur dis. I tell/say it to them.
8. Ils la leur donnent. They give it to them.
9. Elle la leur lit. She reads it to them.
10. Nous te les expliquons. We explain them to you.