Object pronouns How to say him her it

Object pronouns How to say “him”, “her”, “it”, “them”

What are they for? n In English, if I say: “I have a TV. I like TV. I watch TV every day”, it would sound rather long-winded.

What are they for? n n Surely it would sound more natural to say: “I have a TV. I like it. I watch it every day”. The words in red are called object pronouns

How do they work in French? n n n J’ai une télévision. Je l’aime. Je la regarde tous les jours. But I thought l’ & la meant « the » ? ? ! How do we know that l’ and la don’t mean “the” in the sentence at the top?

How do they work in French? n n Think about the part of speech that le, la, l’ or les would normally come in front of in French. . . J’ai une télévision. Je l’aime. Je la regarde tous les jours.

How do they work in French? n n YES! They come in front of NOUNS e. g. n le stylo n la porte n l’eau n les enfants

How do they work in French? n n Now look at the sentence again and work out what part of speech l’ and la are coming in front of: J’ai une télévision. Je l’aime. Je la regarde tous les jours.

How do they work in French? n n n YES! They are now coming in front of VERBS! J’ai une télévision. Je l’aime. Je la regarde tous les jours. Is there anything different about the word order from English?

How do they work in French? n n YES! Literally the sentence means: “I it like. I it watch every day”. Why is “it” translated as “la” in the second sentence?

How do they work in French? n n n Because “la télévision” is feminine of course! J’ai une télévision. Je l’aime. Je la regarde tous les jours. Why is it “l’” in front of “aime”? ?

Vowel clashes! n n OF COURSE! There is a vowel clash – both “le” and “la” will change into “l’” when the verb begins with a vowel or h-vowel.

Try these! n n n J’adore le pain Il regarde le match Il finit les exercices Elle déteste la confiture Nous adorons le français n Je l’adore Il le regarde Il les finit Elle la déteste n Nous l’adorons! n n n

What about “ne” & “pas”? n The object pronoun goes inside the “ne” & “pas” like the ketchup on a verb sandwich. e. g. Je ne l’aime pas

Summary of meanings: Le + VERB = him / it n La + VERB = her / it n L’ + VERB = him / her / it n Les + VERB = them n

More examples: n n n n J’aime le poisson Il finit ses devoirs Il attend le bus Il n’aime pas les maths Elle quitte l’école Jean préfère les frites Je ne trouve pas mon livre n n n n Je l’aime Il les finit Il l’attend Il ne les aime pas Elle la quitte Jean les préfère Je ne le trouve pas

Other uses! n n The object pronouns can also be used with “voici” and “voilà” to mean “here it is”, “there they are” etc. Le voici La voilà etc. = Here it is / here he is = There it is / there she is