L’ordre des pronoms compléments
1 · Statements: follow the five positions
Read the order from left to right and choose only the pronouns your sentence needs. Two pronouns from the same position cannot be stacked together.
| me / te / se / nous / vous | position 1 |
| le / la / les | position 2 |
| lui / leur | position 3 |
| y | position 4 |
| en | position 5 |
Le billet ? Je te le donne.The ticket? I’m giving it to you.
Le plan ? Je le lui montre.The map? I’m showing it to him/her.
2 · Choose y and en by meaning
Y replaces a place or an à phrase referring to a thing. En replaces a de phrase or a quantity; keep the number. For a person after parler à, use lui / leur.
Tu vas à la réception ? — Oui, j’y vais.Are you going to reception? — Yes, I’m going there.
Tu as des billets ? — Oui, j’en ai deux.Have you got tickets? — Yes, I have two.
Je parle de ce problème à Léa. Je lui en parle.I’m talking to Léa about this problem. I’m talking to her about it.
3 · Negatives: keep the pronoun group inside
Put ne before the pronoun group and pas after the conjugated verb. The pronouns keep the statement order. Elide ne only when the next word calls for it.
Je ne le lui donne pas.I’m not giving it to him/her.
Je n’y vais pas.I’m not going there.
Je ne lui en parle pas.I’m not talking to him/her about it.
4 · Compound tenses: before the auxiliary
The pronoun group goes before avoir or être. In a negative passé composé, pas follows the auxiliary. Le and la become l’ before a vowel.
Le formulaire ? Je le lui ai envoyé.The form? I sent it to him/her.
Je ne le lui ai pas envoyé.I didn’t send it to him/her.
Le billet ? Je l’ai acheté.The ticket? I bought it.
5 · Infinitives: stay with the verb that needs them
In an ordinary aller, vouloir or pouvoir + infinitive construction, put the object pronouns before the infinitive they belong to. Negation around aller still surrounds the conjugated verb.
Je vais le lui donner.I’m going to give it to him/her.
Je ne vais pas le lui donner.I’m not going to give it to him/her.
Je peux t’en apporter deux.I can bring you two of them.
6 · Positive commands: after the verb
Use verb → le / la / les → moi / toi / lui / nous / vous / leur → y → en. Join the verb and pronouns with hyphens. Ordinary me and te become moi and toi.
Donne-le-moi.Give it to me.
Montrez-la-leur.Show it to them. (a feminine object)
Parlez-lui-en.Talk to him/her about it.
7 · Before y or en: watch the spelling
In positive commands, moi / toi become m’ / t’ directly before en or y. Use an apostrophe at that join. A tu command that normally lacks final -s takes a linking s directly before attached y or en.
Donne-m’en deux.Give me two of them.
Va-t’en !Go away!
Vas-y ! Manges-en !Go ahead! Eat some!
8 · Negative commands: return to the front
Use the ordinary order before the verb, with me / te again. Keep ne…pas and remove the joining hyphens. The extra imperative s in vas-y disappears in n’y va pas.
Ne me le donne pas.Don’t give it to me.
Ne m’en donne pas.Don’t give me any.
N’y va pas.Don’t go there.