What is the difference between me and moi in French?

Me is unstressed and attaches to a verb: il me voit, he sees me. Moi is stressed and used alone, after a preposition, or after a positive command: avec moi, regarde-moi, moi aussi. They translate the same English word but are never interchangeable.

Where does me go in a French sentence?

Directly in front of the verb it belongs to. In a compound tense that means before the auxiliary: elle m'a écrit. With two verbs it goes in front of the infinitive: je vais te rappeler. With a negation, ne comes before it: il ne me croit pas.

Is me the same for direct and indirect objects?

Yes, and that makes the first and second person much simpler than the third. Il me voit is a direct object and il me parle is indirect, but the pronoun is identical. Only le, la, les and lui, leur make you choose.

Why is it Tu me manques for I miss you?

Manquer works the other way round from English: the person who is absent is the subject, and the person doing the missing is the object. So tu me manques literally reads you are missing to me. Reverse it and je te manque means you miss me.

When does me become m'?

Before any vowel sound and before a mute h, without exception: il m'aime, elle m'écoute, je m'habille, il m'en a parlé. The same happens to te, which becomes t' in exactly the same positions.

French grammar · Beginner

Me and Te in French: Where the First and Second Person Objects Go

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

Me and te are the object pronouns for me and you in French. They cover direct objects (il me voit), indirect objects (il me parle) and reflexives (je me lave) with the same single form, they elide to m' and t' before a vowel, and they sit in front of the verb rather than after it. In a positive command they swap to moi and toi.

Elle me téléphone et je te rappelle après.

She's calling me and I'll call you back afterwards.

What it is

English has one word me and one word you, and both come after the verb. French has a pair of unstressed forms, me and te, that come before it, and a separate pair of stressed forms, moi and toi, for everywhere else. Me and te do triple duty: they are the direct object, the indirect object, and the reflexive pronoun all at once.

Tu me vois, tu me parles, je me repose. — You see me, you talk to me, I'm resting.

How to spot it

If the pronoun is glued to a conjugated verb, it's me or te. If it stands alone, follows a preposition, or ends a positive command, it's moi or toi.

Il me cherche. — He's looking for me. (before the verb)
Il vient avec moi. — He's coming with me. (after a preposition)
Je t'écoute. — I'm listening to you. (elided before a vowel)
Écoute-moi. — Listen to me. (positive command)

Because me and te never take a stress of their own, they lean on the verb and are pronounced as part of it: je me lève comes out as one block, roughly zhuh-muh-LEV.

Me and Te Quick Reference

The first and second person singular pronouns in each slot

Slot	Me	You	Example
Direct object	me / m'	te / t'	Il me voit — he sees me
Indirect object	me / m'	te / t'	Il me parle — he's talking to me
Reflexive	me / m'	te / t'	Je me lave — I'm washing
After a preposition	moi	toi	avec moi — with me
Positive command	-moi	-toi	Dis-moi — tell me
Negative command	me	te	Ne me dis pas — don't tell me
Emphasis	moi	toi	Moi, je reste — me, I'm staying

Common Me and Te Examples in French

The same two pronouns doing their various jobs:

As the Direct Object

Tu me comprends ?: Do you understand me?
Elle m'attend devant la gare.: She's waiting for me in front of the station.
Je te vois demain.: I'll see you tomorrow.
Ils ne t'ont pas remarqué.: They didn't notice you.

Verbs like attendre, chercher and écouter take a direct object in French even though English adds for or to.

As the Indirect Object

Il me parle tous les jours.: He talks to me every day.
Elle t'a écrit une longue lettre.: She wrote you a long letter.
Je te donne ma réponse ce soir.: I'll give you my answer this evening.
On m'a dit que tu partais.: I was told you were leaving.

The form doesn't change between the two roles, which is why me and te are easier than lui and le.

As the Reflexive Pronoun

Je me réveille à sept heures.: I wake up at seven.
Tu te souviens de lui ?: Do you remember him?
Je m'appelle Claire.: My name is Claire.
Tu t'inquiètes trop.: You worry too much.

With a reflexive verb the pronoun isn't optional: je appelle and je me appelle are both impossible, and only je m'appelle works.

Verbs That Feel Backwards in English

Tu me manques.: I miss you. (literally: you are missing to me)
Ça me plaît beaucoup.: I like it a lot.
Il me faut deux jours.: I need two days.
Ce film m'a beaucoup touché.: That film moved me a lot.

Manquer, plaire and falloir put the person in the me slot and the thing in the subject slot, so the sentence is built the opposite way round from English.

How Me and Te Are Placed

Four positioning rules cover every sentence you'll build with these two pronouns.

They Come Before the Conjugated Verb

French object pronouns are attached to the front of the verb, not tacked on behind it. In a compound tense they sit before the auxiliary, not before the participle.

Elle m'a appelé hier soir.

She called me last night.

pronoun + auxiliary + participle.

Negation Wraps Around Both

Ne goes in front of the pronoun and pas after the verb, so the pronoun ends up inside the negative brackets. This is a reliable place to check whether you've put the pronoun in the right slot.

Il ne me croit pas.

He doesn't believe me.

ne + me + verb + pas.

They Elide Before a Vowel or Mute H

Me becomes m' and te becomes t' in front of any vowel sound, including a mute h. This happens automatically and is not optional in writing.

Tu m'habitues à me lever tôt.

You're getting me used to getting up early.

m'aime, t'écoute, m'habille.

With Two Verbs, the Pronoun Hugs the Infinitive

When a conjugated verb is followed by an infinitive, the object belongs to the infinitive, so the pronoun goes immediately in front of it rather than in front of the first verb.

Il va me téléphoner ce soir.

He's going to call me this evening.

aller / vouloir / pouvoir + me + infinitive.

A Positive Command Sends Them to the Back as Moi and Toi

In an affirmative imperative the pronoun moves behind the verb, joined by a hyphen, and me and te become the stressed forms. Make the command negative and they revert.

Aide-moi, mais ne me juge pas.

Help me, but don't judge me.

Aide-moi → ne m'aide pas.

Common Mistakes with Me and Te

Incorrect: Elle regarde me. — She's looking at me.

Correct: Elle me regarde. — She's looking at me.

French object pronouns go in front of the verb. English word order puts the object last, which is the single most common source of error with me and te.

Incorrect: Je te ai vu hier. — I saw you yesterday.

Correct: Je t'ai vu hier. — I saw you yesterday.

Te elides to t' before any vowel, and ai starts with one. The same applies to me: je m'ai never occurs, but il m'a vu does.

Incorrect: Écoute-me. — Listen to me.

Correct: Écoute-moi. — Listen to me.

After an affirmative command the pronoun is stressed, and stressed pronouns are moi and toi. Me and te only exist in front of a verb.

Incorrect: Il a me téléphoné. — He called me.

Correct: Il m'a téléphoné. — He called me.

In a compound tense the pronoun goes before the auxiliary, not between the auxiliary and the participle. Nothing may come between avoir and its past participle except a short adverb.

The Cases Worth Learning Separately

Three patterns where me and te behave in ways the basic rule doesn't predict.

Commands, and what happens with a second pronoun

In a positive command the pronoun follows the verb as moi or toi. If there are two pronouns, the direct object comes first and moi comes last, joined by hyphens.

Donne-le-moi.: Give it to me.
Dis-moi la vérité.: Tell me the truth.
Assieds-toi ici.: Sit down here.
Ne t'inquiète pas.: Don't worry.

Reflexive verbs follow the same pattern: lève-toi in the positive, ne te lève pas in the negative.

Me and te in front of en and y

When me or te is followed by en or y, it always elides. The resulting m'en and t'y are extremely common and often go unrecognised because they're so short.

Il m'en a parlé hier.: He told me about it yesterday.
Je t'y emmène demain.: I'll take you there tomorrow.
Va-t'en !: Go away!
Ne m'en veux pas.: Don't hold it against me.

Va-t'en carries an apostrophe because the t is the pronoun te, not the linking t of viens-t-il.

Reflexive me and te with everyday verbs

A large group of daily-routine and emotion verbs is reflexive in French, so me and te appear far more often than an English speaker expects.

Je me lève tôt.: I get up early.
Tu te dépêches ?: Are you hurrying up?
Je me demande pourquoi.: I wonder why.
Tu te trompes.: You're mistaken.

Se demander and se tromper have no reflexive feel in English at all, which is why they're easy to leave incomplete.

Me and Te FAQs

What is the difference between me and moi in French?: Me is unstressed and attaches to a verb: il me voit, he sees me. Moi is stressed and used alone, after a preposition, or after a positive command: avec moi, regarde-moi, moi aussi. They translate the same English word but are never interchangeable.
Where does me go in a French sentence?: Directly in front of the verb it belongs to. In a compound tense that means before the auxiliary: elle m'a écrit. With two verbs it goes in front of the infinitive: je vais te rappeler. With a negation, ne comes before it: il ne me croit pas.
Is me the same for direct and indirect objects?: Yes, and that makes the first and second person much simpler than the third. Il me voit is a direct object and il me parle is indirect, but the pronoun is identical. Only le, la, les and lui, leur make you choose.
Why is it Tu me manques for I miss you?: Manquer works the other way round from English: the person who is absent is the subject, and the person doing the missing is the object. So tu me manques literally reads you are missing to me. Reverse it and je te manque means you miss me.
When does me become m'?: Before any vowel sound and before a mute h, without exception: il m'aime, elle m'écoute, je m'habille, il m'en a parlé. The same happens to te, which becomes t' in exactly the same positions.