Verb drill
French double pronouns: keep the object and the recipient clear
Practise le lui, te le and lui en in ten short transformations. Follow the same object and recipient through statements, negatives and commands.
- B1
- 10 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
Replace each phrase separately, then combine the pronouns: Je donne le formulaire à Nora → Je le lui donne. Before a verb, le, la, les come before lui, leur, but after me, te, nous, vous. Keep a number after en: Je lui en donne deux.
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How do you keep two French object pronouns clear?
| Full sentence | Two pronouns | What stays the same |
|---|---|---|
| Je donne le formulaire à Nora. | Je le lui donne. | One known form; Nora receives it. |
| Je donne les formulaires aux clients. | Je les leur donne. | The known forms; several recipients. |
| Je te donne le formulaire. | Je te le donne. | The same form; you receive it. |
| Je donne deux formulaires à Nora. | Je lui en donne deux. | Two forms; Nora receives them. |
Lui can mean “to him” or “to her” in these recipient constructions. Leur means “to them” and takes no final -s. The object pronoun answers a different question: what is being given? A plural recipient leaves a singular object singular: Je le leur donne.
| Frame | Example |
|---|---|
| Simple statement | Je la lui montre. |
| Negative statement | Je ne la lui montre pas. |
| Before an infinitive | Je vais la lui montrer. |
| Before an auxiliary | Je la lui ai montrée. |
| Positive command | Montre-la-moi ! |
| Negative command | Ne me la montre pas ! |
In this table, la refers to la confirmation. In Je la lui ai montrée, the earlier direct object is feminine singular, so montrée takes -e. The recipient lui adds no agreement. Positive commands have their own order and hyphens; negative commands use the usual order before the verb.
Replace both phrases
Type the missing group. Each cue names the object and recipient. In the quantity round, keep the stated number. The final two cues are commands: watch the position and the form of “me”.
1 · Known objects
- Je donne le dossier à Nora. → Je donne. (replace le dossier and à Nora)
- Tu montres la confirmation aux clients. → Tu montres. (replace la confirmation and aux clients)
- Je te prête le carnet. → Je prête. (replace le carnet; keep te)
- Elle nous explique les règles. → Elle explique. (replace les règles; keep nous)
2 · Quantity and verb frames
- Je donne trois formulaires à Nora. → Je donne trois. (quantity + one recipient)
- Nous allons envoyer le dossier au responsable. → Nous allons envoyer. (replace le dossier and au responsable)
- Je ne montre pas la confirmation aux clients. → Je ne montre pas. (replace both complements)
- Elle a expliqué le problème à Paul. → Elle a expliqué. (masculine direct object)
3 · Two commands
- Donne-moi le carnet. → (positive command; write the whole command)
- Ne me donne pas le carnet. → (negative command; write the whole command)
Put the nouns back
After checking a row, expand its answer back into the starting sentence. La leur must still name one feminine object and several recipients. Lui en must still name one recipient and a quantity. This catches a change of meaning even when the pair sounds familiar.