When the direct object comes before a verb in a perfect tense, a tense that uses a past participle, the direct object must agree in gender and plurality with the past participle. For example, in te phrase Je les ai eus, or I had them, the past participle would be spelled eus if the direct object, les, was referring to a masculine object, and eues if les is referring to a feminine object.
Indirect Objects
An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom...? or From whom...? . It is called indirect because it occurs usually together with a direct object which is affected directly by the action: Il donne du pain à Pierre. The man gives some bread to Pierre.
Il lui donne du pain.
He gives bread to him.
The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:
French me, m' te, t'
lui
nous vous
leur
English to me1 to you1 to him, to her to us1 to you1 to them
Notes:
1 me, te, nous, and vous are also used as direct objects to mean me, you, us, and you respectively.
The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.
The indirect object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.
The indirect object pronouns do not agree with the past participle like the direct object pronouns do.
When me, te, nous, and vous are used in a perfect tense, the writer must decide whether they are used as direct or indirect object pronouns. This is done by looking at the verb and seeing what type of action is being performed.
The bread is given by the man (direct). Pierre gets the given apple (indirect).
The Pronoun Y
Indirect Object Pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à.
Je réponds aux questions. - J' y réponds.
I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.
Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the the object refers to a person or persons.
Replacement of Places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preoposition except de (for which en is used).
Les hommes vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.
The men go to France - The men go there.
Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de.
Idioms
Ça y est! - It's Done!
J'y suis! - I get it!
En
Note how we say Je veux du pain to say 'I want some bread' ? But what happens when we want to say 'I want some' without specifying what we want? In these cases, we use the pronoun 'en'. As well, 'en' can mean
'of it' when 'it' is not specified. For instance, instead of saying J'ai besoin de l'argent, if the idea of money has already been raised, we can just say 'J'en ai besoin'. This is because what en does is replace du, de la or des when there is nothing after it.
Like with 'me', 'te' and other pronouns, en (meaning 'some') comes before the verb.
Tu joues du piano? Non, je n'en joue pas
Do you play piano? No, I don't play it.
Vous prenez du poisson? Oui, j'en prends.
Are you having fish? Yes, I'm having some.
