Subject pronouns — a quick recap

The subject pronoun tells you who is doing the verb. In French you write it every time:

Now the twist. When the person is the target of the action ("I see him", "I speak to her"), you need a different set — the object pronouns. That is what this lesson builds.

me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les

A direct object pronoun replaces the person or thing the verb acts on directly. In French it goes before the verb — the opposite of English:

Position rule: je le vois = "I see him/it" — the pronoun sits just before the verb, never after. Do not say je vois le.

Where does the pronoun go?

me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur = "to …"

When the meaning is "to someone" (speak to, give to, say to), you use the indirect object pronouns. Two forms differ from the direct set: lui (to him/her) and leur (to them):

Same position, before the verb: je lui parle = "I speak to him/her"; je leur donne = "I give to them". English hides the "to", but French makes you choose the indirect pronoun.

Your turn — a reflexive verb

y = "there" · en = "some / of it"

French has two tiny pronouns with no neat English match. Both go before the verb like the others:

• y = "there / to it". Je vais à Paris → j'y vais ("I'm going there").
• en = "some / of it". J'ai du pain → j'en ai ("I have some").

Handy shortcut: y replaces a place or an à + thing, and en replaces a de + thing or a quantity. Both attach to the front of the verb: j'y vais, j'en ai.

Pick the negative

Your turn — the "we" reflexive

Doing it to yourself

Reflexive verbs describe an action you do to yourself — washing, getting up, being called. Each person has a matching reflexive pronoun before the verb:

Same shape for the family: se lever (to get up) and s'appeler (to be called) work the same way — je me lève, je m'appelle. The reflexive pronoun always matches the subject and sits before the verb.

The doubled "we"

Your turn — "to him"

ne … pas and its cousins

French negation wraps the verb: ne goes before, and a second word goes after. Swap that second word to change the meaning:

Wrap the verb: je ne fume jamais = "I never smoke". The ne hugs the front of the verb, the second word follows it.

Match the question word to its meaning

Tap a French question word on the left, then tap its English meaning on the right.

Your turn — "I never eat"

Building a negative

Direct or indirect?

Sort each pronoun into direct (acts on someone) or indirect (to someone).

Three ways to ask

French gives you three ways to turn a statement into a question — from casual to formal:

• Intonation: keep the word order, raise your voice. Tu aimes ? ("You like it?")
• est-ce que: add it to the front. Est-ce que tu aimes ?
• Inversion: swap verb and pronoun, add a hyphen. Aimes-tu ?

Add a question word for detail: qui (who), que (what), quand (when), où (where), pourquoi (why), comment (how), combien (how many), quel (which). E.g. Pourquoi tu es en retard ?

The right question word

Your turn — ask with est-ce que

Making sentences shorter with y and en

Once you can drop y and en in front of the verb, your French sounds much more natural:

• Tu vas à l'école ? — Oui, j'y vais. "Are you going to school? — Yes, I'm going (there)."
• Tu veux du gâteau ? — Oui, j'en veux. "Do you want some cake? — Yes, I want some."

Don't leave them out. English can say just "Yes, I am", but French needs the pronoun: j'y vais / j'en ai, never je vais on its own as the answer.

Choosing y

Pronouns, reflexives, negation, questions

You now have the toolkit for talking about people naturally. Keep the moving parts in order:

• Object pronouns before the verb: direct le/la/les, indirect lui/leur — je le vois, je lui parle.
• y / en also before the verb — j'y vais, j'en ai.
• Reflexive pronoun matches the subject: je me lave, nous nous levons.
• Negation wraps the verb: ne … pas / jamais / rien / plus / personne / que.

Golden habit: whenever a person is the target of the verb, ask "direct or to-someone?" — that one question picks le vs lui every time.

Your talking-about-people toolkit

These are the words that make people-talk flow. Press Finish to see your score.