Verb drill
Je te le donne: keeping track of short words in spoken French
Restore the small words in compact French phrases such as j’te parle. Practise who does what to whom while keeping standard French spelling.
- A2
- 8 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
In je te le donne, je is the giver, te is the recipient and le is the thing given. A speaker can drop a schwa and compress the syllables while keeping all three words. Follow the pronoun chain to keep the meaning.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
| Word | Job | In English |
|---|---|---|
| je | subject: the person giving | I |
| te | recipient: the person receiving | to you |
| le | direct object: the thing given | it |
Mon numéro ? Je te le donne demain.
My number? I’ll give it to you tomorrow.
The present tense refers to tomorrow here. The number is what le stands for.
How do French speakers say je te le donne?
| Compact cue | Standard spelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| j’te parle | je te parle | I’m talking to you |
| j’me lève | je me lève | I get up |
| j’le vois | je le vois | I can see him / it |
Each cue removes the written e of je to show a possible spoken reduction. The following pronoun remains. The consonants can change slightly as they meet: j’te often starts with a sound close to /ʃ/. These cues help you recognise a compact phrase; the standard spelling preserves the full words.
Le message ? Tu me le lis ?
The message? Will you read it to me?
Me is the recipient; le refers to the message. Keep both roles even when the vowels are brief.
The course phrase je me douche offers another familiar chain. Say it clearly first, with the vowels you need. Several adjacent consonants can favour keeping a schwa. Different speakers make different choices, so the task below restores words and meaning rather than prescribing a single reduced pronunciation.
Restore the words, then complete the chain
In part one, type the standard spelling of each compact cue. In part two, fill the gap using the English meaning in brackets. Keep the pronouns in their normal order before the verb.
1 · Write the full phrase
- j’te parle →
- j’me couche →
- j’le prends →
- j’te le dis →
2 · Keep who and what clear
- Je donne demain. (it to you; informal singular)
- Tu gardes ? (it for me)
- Je montre. (it to you; vous)
- Elle donne. (it to him)