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Noun. (1) The French Indirect Object Pronouns Are
Noun. (1) The French Indirect Object Pronouns Are
*"For" only in the sense of a recipient (I bought the gift for you), not when
it means "on behalf of" (he speaks for all the members).
me / m' me
te / t' you
lui him, her
nous us
vous you
leur them
Notes: When deciding between direct and indirect objects, the general
rule is that if the person or thing is preceded by the preposition à or pour,
that person/thing is an indirect object. If it's not preceded by a
preposition, it is a direct object. If it's preceded by any other preposition,
it can't be replaced by an object pronoun
So "pay attention to him" would be fais attention à lui, but "pay attention
to it" (e.g., the program, my explanation) would be fais-y attention.
With most verbs and in most tenses and moods, when the indirect object
pronoun is first or second person, it has to precede the verb:
When the pronoun refers to the third person, you can use a stressed
pronounafter the verb and the preposition à in order to stress the
distinction between masculine and feminine:
However, with some verbs the indirect object pronoun has to follow the
verb - see verbs that don't allow a preceding indirect object pronoun.
COI = Person
Wrong: xx Il doit m'habituer.
Je pense à mes sœurs - J'y pense.
Il doit s'habituer à moi. - Il doit s'y habituer.
Fais attention à ton prof - Fais-y attention.
COI = Thing
When the indirect object is a thing, you have two equally acceptable
choices: You can either keep the preposition à as above but follow it with
an indefinite demonstrative pronoun, or you can replace the preposition
and indirect object with y:
I'm dreaming about our wedding day - I'm dreaming about it.
*French Verbs and Expressions That Don't Allow a Preceding Indirect Object
Pronoun
en appeler à to appeal to, address
avoir affaire à to have to deal with
avoir recours à to have recourse to
croire à to believe in
être à to belong to
faire allusion à to allude to
faire appel à to appeal to, address
faire attention to pay attention to
à
s'habituer à to get used to
penser à to think of, about
recourir à to have recourse to
renoncer à to give up, renounce
revenir à to come back to
rêver à to dream of
songer à to think, dream of
tenir à to be fond of, care about
venir à to come to