Indirect Object Pronouns (lui, leur, me, te, nous, vous)

Indirect object pronouns replace a noun that receives the action of the verb indirectly — typically through the preposition à (to). While direct objects answer "what?" or "whom?", indirect objects answer "to whom?" or "for whom?".

---

What Is an Indirect Object?

An indirect object is connected to the verb through the preposition à:

• Je parle à Marie. — I speak to Marie. (To whom do I speak? → to Marie)
• Il donne le livre à son frère. — He gives the book to his brother. (To whom? → to his brother)
• Elle écrit à ses parents. — She writes to her parents. (To whom? → to her parents)

---

The Indirect Object Pronouns

Person	French Pronoun	English Equivalent
1st person singular	me (m')	to me
2nd person singular	te (t')	to you
3rd person singular	lui	to him / to her
1st person plural	nous	to us
2nd person plural / formal	vous	to you
3rd person plural	leur	to them

Key difference from direct objects: In the 3rd person, direct objects use le/la/les while indirect objects use lui/leur. The 1st and 2nd person forms (me, te, nous, vous) are the same for both.

Important: lui replaces both masculine and feminine singular indirect objects. Lui = to him OR to her.

---

Pronoun Placement

Like direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns go before the conjugated verb:

With Noun	With Pronoun
Je parle à Marie.	Je lui parle. (I speak to her.)
Il donne le livre à son frère.	Il lui donne le livre. (He gives him the book.)
Elle écrit à ses parents.	Elle leur écrit. (She writes to them.)
Tu téléphones à ta mère.	Tu lui téléphones. (You call her.)

---

Placement in Different Tenses

Present Tense

• Je lui parle. — I speak to him/her.
• Nous leur envoyons un message. — We send them a message.

Passé Composé (Before the Auxiliary)

• Je lui ai parlé. — I spoke to him/her.
• Nous leur avons envoyé un message. — We sent them a message.

Important: There is no past participle agreement with indirect object pronouns. The past participle only agrees with direct objects.

• Je lui ai parlé. (NOT parlée, even if lui refers to a woman)

Futur Proche (Before the Infinitive)

• Je vais lui parler. — I am going to speak to him/her.
• Elle va leur écrire. — She is going to write to them.

With Two Verbs

• Je veux lui parler. — I want to speak to him/her.
• Tu dois leur répondre. — You must answer them.

---

Negation

The pronoun stays before the verb, inside ne...pas:

• Je ne lui parle pas. — I don't speak to him/her.
• Elle ne leur a pas écrit. — She didn't write to them.
• Il ne m'a pas répondu. — He didn't answer me.

---

Common Verbs That Take Indirect Objects (à + person)