What are the French direct object pronouns?

Me, te, le, la, nous, vous and les. Le replaces a masculine noun, la a feminine one, and les a plural of either gender. Le and la both shorten to l' before a vowel, so je l'ai vu could refer to him, her or a thing.

Where do direct object pronouns go in French?

Directly in front of the verb they belong to: je le vois. In a compound tense, in front of the auxiliary: je l'ai vu. With two verbs, in front of the infinitive: je vais le voir. Only in an affirmative command do they follow the verb: prends-le.

How do I know whether an object is direct or indirect?

Look for a preposition between the verb and the noun. Je regarde le film has no preposition, so it's direct and becomes je le regarde. Je parle à mon frère has à, so it's indirect and becomes je lui parle.

Why does the past participle change with le, la and les?

Because a direct object placed in front of the verb triggers agreement. Je les ai achetées means I bought them where them stands for something feminine plural. Leave the object after the verb and nothing changes: j'ai acheté des pommes.

What does le mean in Je le sais?

That le is the neuter pronoun and stands for a whole idea rather than a noun: I know that. It also replaces an adjective, as in tu es sûr ? Je le suis. It never becomes la or les, regardless of what it refers to.

French grammar · Intermediate

Direct Object Pronouns in French: Le, La, Les and Where They Go

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

A direct object is what the verb acts on with no preposition in between: je vois la maison. The pronouns that replace it are me, te, le, la, nous, vous and les, and unlike English they go in front of the verb: je la vois. In compound tenses a direct object placed before the verb makes the past participle agree with it.

Ce roman ? Je l'ai lu deux fois et je le relirai.

That novel? I've read it twice and I'll read it again.

What it is

The direct object answers the question who or what after the verb, with nothing standing between the two. Je lis le journal has le journal as its direct object, and once you replace it with a pronoun the sentence becomes je le lis. That reordering is the whole difficulty: French puts the pronoun in front of the verb where English puts it behind.

Je connais Julie. → Je la connais. — I know Julie. → I know her.

How to spot it

Say the verb and then ask what or whom. If the answer follows immediately, with no à or de in front of it, it's a direct object and it takes le, la or les.

Je vois le train. — I see the train. → Je le vois.
Elle achète les billets. — She's buying the tickets. → Elle les achète.
Nous invitons Sophie. — We're inviting Sophie. → Nous l'invitons.
Tu attends le bus ? — Are you waiting for the bus? → Tu l'attends ?

Some French verbs take a direct object where English inserts a preposition: attendre, chercher, écouter, regarder and payer all work this way, so wait for the bus is simply attendre le bus.

Direct Objects Quick Reference

The direct object pronouns

Person	Pronoun	Before a vowel	Example
me	me	m'	Il me voit — he sees me
you (familiar)	te	t'	Je t'entends — I hear you
him, it (masc.)	le	l'	Je le prends — I'll take it
her, it (fem.)	la	l'	Je la connais — I know her
us	nous	nous	Il nous cherche — he's looking for us
you (plural, polite)	vous	vous	Je vous remercie — thank you
them	les	les	Je les vends — I'm selling them

Common Direct Objects Examples in French

Direct object pronouns in the positions they actually occur in:

In a Simple Tense

Ce gâteau ? Je le prends.: That cake? I'll take it.
Cette robe ? Je la trouve trop chère.: That dress? I think it's too expensive.
Ces photos ? Je les adore.: Those photos? I love them.
Mon frère ? Je l'appelle ce soir.: My brother? I'm calling him tonight.

Le and la both shorten to l' before a vowel or a mute h, which means the gender disappears in speech: je l'aime works for a man or a woman.

With Two Verbs

Je vais le faire tout de suite.: I'll do it right away.
Tu peux les ranger ?: Can you put them away?
Elle veut la revoir.: She wants to see her again.
On doit le finir avant lundi.: We have to finish it before Monday.

The pronoun belongs to the verb that governs it, so it goes in front of the infinitive rather than in front of the conjugated verb.

In the Past, With Agreement

Cette lettre ? Je l'ai lue hier.: That letter? I read it yesterday.
Mes clés ? Je les ai perdues.: My keys? I've lost them.
Ses parents ? Je les ai rencontrés en juin.: His parents? I met them in June.
Le film ? Nous l'avons vu deux fois.: The film? We saw it twice.

The participle agrees because the direct object now sits in front of the verb. Lue has an e for lettre, perdues an e and an s for clés.

In Commands

Prends-le.: Take it.
Ne le prends pas.: Don't take it.
Écoutez-la jusqu'au bout.: Listen to her right to the end.
Ne les dérange pas.: Don't disturb them.

A positive command sends the pronoun behind the verb with a hyphen; a negative one puts it back in its usual place in front.

How Direct Object Pronouns Behave

Five rules, and the last two are the ones that separate confident French from translated English.

No Preposition Means Direct

The test is structural, not semantic. If the noun follows the verb bare, it's direct; if à or de intervenes, it isn't. That is why téléphoner à quelqu'un takes an indirect pronoun while appeler quelqu'un takes a direct one.

J'appelle mon frère, puis je téléphone à ma sœur.

I'm calling my brother, then I'm phoning my sister.

Verb + noun = direct.

The Pronoun Goes in Front of the Verb

French object pronouns are unstressed and lean on the verb, so they come before it. In a compound tense they precede the auxiliary; with a negation they sit inside the ne… pas brackets.

Il ne les a pas encore trouvés.

He hasn't found them yet.

ne + pronoun + auxiliary + pas.

Le and La Elide, Les Never Does

Before a vowel sound le and la both become l', and the gender stops being audible. Les keeps its shape and links onto the next word instead, so les amis sounds like lay-zami.

Je l'ouvre et je les ferme.

I'm opening it and closing them.

l' for singular, les with a z sound.

A Preceding Direct Object Forces Agreement

Normally a participle with avoir doesn't change. But when the direct object has moved in front of the verb, whether as a pronoun or as the relative que, the participle agrees with it in gender and number.

Les photos que j'ai prises sont floues.

The photos I took are blurry.

Object first → participle agrees.

Le Can Also Stand for a Whole Idea

Besides replacing a masculine noun, le has a neuter use where it stands for a clause, an adjective or a state. Here it is invariable and often left untranslated in English.

Tu es fatigué ? Oui, je le suis.

Are you tired? Yes, I am.

Neuter le = so, that, it.

Common Mistakes with Direct Objects

Incorrect: Je vois le. — I see him.

Correct: Je le vois. — I see him.

French object pronouns cannot sit after the verb in a statement. Only a positive command puts them there, and then they're joined with a hyphen: vois-le.

Incorrect: J'ai le vu hier. — I saw him yesterday.

Correct: Je l'ai vu hier. — I saw him yesterday.

Two problems: the pronoun belongs in front of the auxiliary, and le elides to l' before a vowel. Nothing can come between avoir and its past participle.

Incorrect: Les clés ? Je les ai perdu. — My keys? I've lost them.

Correct: Les clés ? Je les ai perdues. — My keys? I've lost them.

The direct object les now precedes the verb, so the participle agrees with what it stands for. Clés is feminine plural, giving perdues.

Incorrect: J'attends pour le bus. — I'm waiting for the bus.

Correct: J'attends le bus. — I'm waiting for the bus.

Attendre already contains the idea of for and takes a bare direct object. The same goes for chercher, écouter, regarder and payer.

The Two Areas Worth Extra Attention

Agreement in the past and a short list of verbs that don't behave the way English suggests.

Agreement with a preceding direct object

With avoir, the participle only agrees when the direct object comes first. That happens with an object pronoun, with the relative que, and in questions with quel.

Ces fleurs ? Je les ai cueillies ce matin.: These flowers? I picked them this morning.
Voici la maison que nous avons achetée.: This is the house we bought.
Quelles villes avez-vous visitées ?: Which cities have you visited?
Je l'ai vue partir.: I saw her leave.

If the object still follows the verb, nothing changes: j'ai cueilli des fleurs has a bare participle.

Verbs that are direct in French but not in English

A handful of very common verbs take a bare object in French while English inserts a preposition. They take le, la and les, not lui.

J'attends le train depuis vingt minutes.: I've been waiting for the train for twenty minutes.
Je cherche mes lunettes.: I'm looking for my glasses.
Elle écoute la radio le matin.: She listens to the radio in the morning.
Qui va payer l'addition ?: Who's going to pay for the bill?

Regarder, croire and demander behave the same way with a thing: je le regarde, je le crois. Demander is indirect when it's a person you're asking.

Neuter le for a state or an idea

Le can replace an adjective, a clause, or something already said. In this use it never becomes la or les, whatever the gender or number of what it stands for.

Elle est médecin ? Elle le sera bientôt.: Is she a doctor? She will be soon.
Je te l'avais dit.: I'd told you so.
Vous êtes prêts ? Nous le sommes.: Are you ready? We are.
Si tu le veux, je viens.: If you want, I'll come.

English usually drops this pronoun entirely, as in yes, I am, which is why je le sais and je le crois can feel as though they have a word too many.

Direct Objects FAQs

What are the French direct object pronouns?: Me, te, le, la, nous, vous and les. Le replaces a masculine noun, la a feminine one, and les a plural of either gender. Le and la both shorten to l' before a vowel, so je l'ai vu could refer to him, her or a thing.
Where do direct object pronouns go in French?: Directly in front of the verb they belong to: je le vois. In a compound tense, in front of the auxiliary: je l'ai vu. With two verbs, in front of the infinitive: je vais le voir. Only in an affirmative command do they follow the verb: prends-le.
How do I know whether an object is direct or indirect?: Look for a preposition between the verb and the noun. Je regarde le film has no preposition, so it's direct and becomes je le regarde. Je parle à mon frère has à, so it's indirect and becomes je lui parle.
Why does the past participle change with le, la and les?: Because a direct object placed in front of the verb triggers agreement. Je les ai achetées means I bought them where them stands for something feminine plural. Leave the object after the verb and nothing changes: j'ai acheté des pommes.
What does le mean in Je le sais?: That le is the neuter pronoun and stands for a whole idea rather than a noun: I know that. It also replaces an adjective, as in tu es sûr ? Je le suis. It never becomes la or les, regardless of what it refers to.