Where do object pronouns go in a French sentence?

Directly in front of the verb they are the object of: je te vois, I see you. In a compound tense that means before the auxiliary (je t'ai vu), and with an infinitive it means before the infinitive (je vais te voir).

Why is it je l'ai vu and not j'ai le vu?

The auxiliary avoir is the conjugated verb, so the pronoun has to precede it, and le elides to l' in front of the vowel of ai. The past participle plays no part in placement.

What happens to pronoun order in a command?

An affirmative command is the one structure that puts the pronoun after the verb, hyphenated, with me and te becoming moi and toi: écoute-moi, lève-toi. Make the command negative and the pronoun returns to its usual place: ne m'écoute pas.

In what order do two object pronouns go?

Me, te, se, nous, vous come first, then le, la, les, then lui, leur, then y, then en: il me l'a dit, je lui en ai parlé. The single exception is the affirmative imperative, where the direct object leads: donne-le-moi.

Can anything come between the pronoun and the verb?

Only ne. Adverbs go elsewhere in the sentence, so I often see him is je le vois souvent, with souvent after the verb rather than inside the pronoun-verb block.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Object Pronoun Placement: Before the Verb, and the Exceptions

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

French object pronouns go in front of the verb they belong to, not after it: je le vois, I see him. In compound tenses they sit before the auxiliary, with an infinitive they attach to the infinitive, and only the affirmative imperative pushes them behind the verb.

Je ne le lui ai pas encore donné.

I haven't given it to him yet.

What it is

English puts objects after the verb, so I see him keeps the same order as I see Paul. French does the opposite with pronouns: the moment the object becomes a pronoun it jumps in front of the verb, giving je le vois. Nothing may separate the pronoun from its verb except ne.

Je vois Paul → je le vois. Je parle à Paul → je lui parle. — I see Paul → I see him. I speak to Paul → I speak to him.

How to spot it

Find the verb the pronoun actually belongs to. That verb is the one it goes in front of, and in a two-verb sentence it is usually the second one.

Elle nous invite. — She's inviting us. (one verb)
Elle nous a invités. — She invited us. (before the auxiliary)
Elle va nous inviter. — She's going to invite us. (before the infinitive)
Invite-nous ! — Invite us! (after the affirmative imperative)

The pronoun and its verb form one block in speech. Adverbs, subjects and negation words all arrange themselves around that block rather than inside it.

Object Pronoun Placement Quick Reference

Where the pronoun goes, structure by structure

Structure	Position	Example
Simple tense	before the verb	Je te comprends. — I understand you.
Negation	between ne and the verb	Je ne te comprends pas. — I don't understand you.
Compound tense	before the auxiliary	Je t'ai compris. — I understood you.
Verb + infinitive	before the infinitive	Je veux te comprendre. — I want to understand you.
Affirmative imperative	after the verb, hyphenated	Écoute-moi ! — Listen to me!
Negative imperative	back in front of the verb	Ne m'écoute pas. — Don't listen to me.
Voici / voilà	before them	Me voici. — Here I am.

Common Object Pronoun Placement Examples in French

The same pronoun in each of the structures that move it:

One Conjugated Verb

Je les connais bien.: I know them well.
Il nous attend dehors.: He's waiting for us outside.
Elle lui écrit chaque semaine.: She writes to him every week.
On y va tout de suite.: We're going there right away.

Nothing comes between the pronoun and the verb, so an adverb has to go somewhere else in the sentence.

Compound Tenses

Je l'ai rencontrée hier.: I met her yesterday.
Nous leur avons déjà répondu.: We've already replied to them.
Tu ne m'avais rien dit.: You hadn't told me anything.
Elle en a beaucoup parlé.: She talked about it a lot.

The pronoun goes before the auxiliary, never between the auxiliary and the participle. A preceding direct object also triggers agreement: rencontrée.

Two Verbs Together

Je vais t'expliquer.: I'm going to explain to you.
Tu peux le faire demain.: You can do it tomorrow.
Il faut lui téléphoner.: We need to phone him.
Elle n'ose pas leur demander.: She doesn't dare ask them.

The pronoun belongs to the infinitive because that is the verb whose object it is, so it slides in just before it.

Orders

Donne-moi la main.: Give me your hand.
Attends-nous ici.: Wait for us here.
Ne me le dis pas.: Don't tell me.
Vas-y sans moi.: Go ahead without me.

Only the affirmative imperative moves the pronoun behind the verb. Add ne… pas and everything snaps back to normal order.

How Placement Is Decided

One default rule, three structural adjustments, and a fixed order when two pronouns compete for the same slot.

The Default Is Immediately Before the Verb

Direct objects, indirect objects, y and en all precede the conjugated verb. This holds for every tense and mood except the affirmative imperative, so it is worth treating as the rule and everything else as adjustment.

Mes clés ? Je les cherche partout.

My keys? I'm looking for them everywhere.

Pronoun, then verb.

Ne Is the Only Thing Allowed Inside

In a negative sentence, ne comes before the pronoun and pas comes after the verb, so the pronoun stays glued to the verb: je ne le vois pas. Nothing else may sit in that gap.

Il ne nous a jamais remerciés.

He never thanked us.

ne + pronoun + verb + pas.

In Compound Tenses the Auxiliary Counts as the Verb

Avoir and être are the conjugated verb in the passé composé and the other compound tenses, so the pronoun goes in front of them. The past participle keeps to the far side.

Je lui ai écrit ce matin.

I wrote to him this morning.

pronoun + auxiliary + participle.

With Two Verbs, Follow the Meaning

In vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, aller and falloir plus an infinitive, the object belongs to the infinitive, so it attaches there. Je veux le voir, not *je le veux voir.

Nous devons les prévenir avant ce soir.

We have to warn them before tonight.

The pronoun follows its own verb.

Two Pronouns Have a Fixed Order

When two pronouns stack up, the order is me, te, se, nous, vous first, then le, la, les, then lui, leur, then y, then en. It never varies, and it is unrelated to which pronoun is direct or indirect.

Elle me l'a offert pour mon anniversaire.

She gave it to me for my birthday.

me te se nous vous · le la les · lui leur · y · en.

Common Mistakes with Object Pronoun Placement

Incorrect: Je vois le. — I see him.

Correct: Je le vois. — I see him.

French pronouns cannot stay in the object slot after the verb. Word order is the whole difference between a noun object and a pronoun object.

Incorrect: J'ai le vu ce matin. — I saw him this morning.

Correct: Je l'ai vu ce matin. — I saw him this morning.

In a compound tense the pronoun goes before the auxiliary, not between the auxiliary and the participle. It also elides with ai, giving l'ai.

Incorrect: Je le veux voir. — I want to see him.

Correct: Je veux le voir. — I want to see him.

The object belongs to voir, not to vouloir, so it attaches to the infinitive. Placing it before the conjugated verb makes it the object of the wrong verb.

Incorrect: Donne-moi-le. — Give it to me.

Correct: Donne-le-moi. — Give it to me.

In an affirmative imperative the direct object comes before the indirect one, which is the reverse of the order used everywhere else in the language.

The Imperative and the Double-Pronoun Order

These are the two places where the ordinary rule bends, and between them they cause most of the hesitation in speech.

Affirmative imperatives push the pronoun back

With an order, the pronoun follows the verb and is joined to it by a hyphen. Me and te become the stressed forms moi and toi in that position.

Regarde-moi.: Look at me.
Assieds-toi.: Sit down.
Fais-le tout de suite.: Do it right away.
Donne-les-nous.: Give them to us.

In an affirmative imperative with two pronouns, the direct object comes first: donne-le-moi, not *donne-moi-le.

Negative imperatives behave normally

Add ne… pas and the imperative loses its special status: the pronouns return to their usual place before the verb, in their usual order, and moi and toi go back to me and te.

Ne me regarde pas comme ça.: Don't look at me like that.
Ne t'assieds pas là.: Don't sit there.
Ne le lui donne pas.: Don't give it to him.

Donne-le-moi and ne me le donne pas are the same sentence with opposite polarity, and the pronouns swap order between them.

Y and en take the euphonic s

The tu imperative of an -er verb normally drops its s, but the s comes back before y and en so the words link smoothly.

Vas-y !: Go on! / Go there!
Manges-en un peu.: Have a bit of it.
Parles-en à ton médecin.: Talk to your doctor about it.

Compare va au marché, where there is no pronoun and the s stays away.

Object Pronoun Placement FAQs

Where do object pronouns go in a French sentence?: Directly in front of the verb they are the object of: je te vois, I see you. In a compound tense that means before the auxiliary (je t'ai vu), and with an infinitive it means before the infinitive (je vais te voir).
Why is it je l'ai vu and not j'ai le vu?: The auxiliary avoir is the conjugated verb, so the pronoun has to precede it, and le elides to l' in front of the vowel of ai. The past participle plays no part in placement.
What happens to pronoun order in a command?: An affirmative command is the one structure that puts the pronoun after the verb, hyphenated, with me and te becoming moi and toi: écoute-moi, lève-toi. Make the command negative and the pronoun returns to its usual place: ne m'écoute pas.
In what order do two object pronouns go?: Me, te, se, nous, vous come first, then le, la, les, then lui, leur, then y, then en: il me l'a dit, je lui en ai parlé. The single exception is the affirmative imperative, where the direct object leads: donne-le-moi.
Can anything come between the pronoun and the verb?: Only ne. Adverbs go elsewhere in the sentence, so I often see him is je le vois souvent, with souvent after the verb rather than inside the pronoun-verb block.