What are the French object pronouns?

Me, te, nous and vous work as both direct and indirect objects. Le, la and les are direct objects in the third person, lui and leur are indirect. Y replaces à plus a thing or a place, and en replaces de plus a noun.

Where do object pronouns go in a French sentence?

In front of the verb: je te vois. In a compound tense, in front of the auxiliary: je t'ai vu. With an infinitive, in front of the infinitive: je vais te voir. The only exception is an affirmative command, where they follow the verb: regarde-moi.

What order do two object pronouns go in?

Me, te, se, nous, vous first; then le, la, les; then lui, leur; then y; then en. So it's il me le donne but je le lui donne. The order has nothing to do with the English sentence, which puts the indirect object last.

Why does the order change in commands?

In an affirmative imperative there's no subject in front of the verb, so the pronouns attach behind it instead, and the direct object comes first: donne-le-moi. Me and te become moi and toi in that position. Negative commands keep the ordinary order.

Can I use two indirect object pronouns together?

No. French allows a first or second person pronoun with a third person direct object (il me le donne), or a third person direct with a third person indirect (je le lui donne), but not two indirect ones. He introduced me to her has to be rebuilt: il m'a présenté à elle.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Object Pronouns: The Full Set and the Order They Come In

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

French object pronouns replace the nouns a verb acts on, and unlike English they stand in front of the verb: je le vois, il me parle. There are three sets working together, the direct pronouns le, la, les, the indirect pronouns lui, leur, and the adverbial pronouns y and en, plus me, te, nous and vous, which do both jobs. When two of them meet, the order is fixed.

Ce dossier ? Je le lui ai envoyé et je vais lui en reparler.

That file? I sent it to him and I'm going to bring it up with him again.

What it is

An object pronoun saves you from repeating a noun: instead of j'ai vu le film et j'ai aimé le film, you say je l'ai vu et je l'ai aimé. French object pronouns are unstressed, which means they can't stand on their own and have to lean on a verb. That's why they sit in front of it, and why several of them can stack up into a cluster of tiny syllables.

Il me l'a donné hier. — He gave it to me yesterday.

How to spot it

Find the verb, then look immediately to its left. Everything between the subject and the verb, apart from ne, is an object pronoun.

Je te le promets. — I promise you. (te + le)
Elle nous en a offert. — She gave us some. (nous + en)
On l'y a vu. — We saw him there. (l' + y)
Il ne me les rend pas. — He isn't giving them back to me.

The whole cluster is pronounced as one unstressed run-up to the verb, so il me l'a donné comes out in a single breath. That's why these words are so easy to lose when listening.

Object Pronouns Quick Reference

The order of object pronouns in front of the verb

Position	Pronouns	What they cover	Example
1	me, te, se, nous, vous	1st and 2nd person, and reflexives	Il me parle — he talks to me
2	le, la, les	3rd person direct objects	Je les vois — I see them
3	lui, leur	3rd person indirect objects	Je lui écris — I write to him
4	y	à plus a place or a thing	J'y vais — I'm going there
5	en	de plus a noun, and quantities	J'en veux — I want some
Two together	1 + 2, or 2 + 3	the only combinations allowed	Il me le donne / Je le lui donne
Positive command	verb + direct + indirect	order reverses	Donne-le-moi — give it to me

Common Object Pronouns Examples in French

The three sets, then what happens when they combine:

Direct: Le, La, Les

Ce pull ? Je le prends.: This jumper? I'll take it.
Ma valise ? Je l'ai déjà faite.: My suitcase? I've already packed it.
Ces gens ? Je ne les connais pas.: Those people? I don't know them.
Tu m'entends ?: Can you hear me?

These replace a noun that follows the verb with no preposition. In a compound tense they make the participle agree: je l'ai faite.

Indirect: Lui, Leur

Je lui ai tout expliqué.: I explained everything to him.
Écris-leur ce soir.: Write to them tonight.
Elle ne nous a rien dit.: She didn't tell us anything.
Je vous rends votre stylo.: I'm giving you your pen back.

These stand for a person introduced by à. They carry no gender, and they never trigger participle agreement.

Adverbial: Y and En

À la banque ? J'y vais maintenant.: To the bank? I'm going there now.
Du pain ? J'en ai acheté.: Bread? I bought some.
Tu y penses encore ?: Are you still thinking about it?
Des enfants ? Elle en a trois.: Children? She has three.

Y stands for à plus a thing or a place; en stands for de plus a noun, including all the partitive quantities.

Two Pronouns Together

Il me le prête souvent.: He often lends it to me.
Je le lui ai déjà dit.: I've already told him that.
On leur en a parlé.: We talked to them about it.
Ne me les donne pas.: Don't give them to me.

Only certain pairs are possible, and their order is fixed by the table above rather than by the order of the English words.

How the System Fits Together

Placement first, then the order inside a cluster, then the one situation where everything moves.

Everything Goes Before the Verb

Object pronouns precede the conjugated verb in every ordinary sentence. In a compound tense that means before the auxiliary, since nothing may separate the auxiliary from its participle.

Elle nous a écrit la semaine dernière.

She wrote to us last week.

pronoun + auxiliary + participle.

With Two Verbs, the Pronoun Follows Its Own Verb

When an infinitive is present, the pronoun belongs to whichever verb governs it, which is almost always the infinitive. So it lands between the two verbs.

Je voudrais vous en parler demain.

I'd like to talk to you about it tomorrow.

conjugated verb + pronouns + infinitive.

Negation Brackets the Whole Cluster

Ne goes in front of all the pronouns and pas after the verb, so the pronouns end up inside. This is a good structural check: if a pronoun is outside the brackets, it's in the wrong place.

Il ne me l'a jamais rendu.

He never gave it back to me.

ne + pronouns + verb + pas.

Only Two Combinations Are Possible

You can pair a first or second person pronoun with a third person direct object, or a third person direct object with a third person indirect object. Two indirect pronouns cannot combine, so I gave it to him for me has to be rephrased.

Il me le donne, puis je le lui rends.

He gives it to me, then I give it back to him.

me + le, or le + lui.

A Positive Command Reverses the Order

In an affirmative imperative the pronouns move behind the verb and the direct object comes first, joined by hyphens. Make the command negative and the normal order returns.

Donne-le-moi. Ne me le donne pas.

Give it to me. Don't give it to me.

Command: verb, direct, indirect.

Common Mistakes with Object Pronouns

Incorrect: Je donne le à lui. — I'm giving it to him.

Correct: Je le lui donne. — I'm giving it to him.

Both pronouns belong in front of the verb, and the à disappears with them. Keeping English word order produces a sentence no French speaker would accept.

Incorrect: Je lui le donne. — I'm giving it to him.

Correct: Je le lui donne. — I'm giving it to him.

Within the third person the direct object always precedes the indirect one. The reverse order only appears after an affirmative command, and even then it's donne-le-lui.

Incorrect: Ne donne-le-moi pas. — Don't give it to me.

Correct: Ne me le donne pas. — Don't give it to me.

Only affirmative commands attach pronouns behind the verb. As soon as the command is negative, everything returns to the normal pre-verb order and moi reverts to me.

Incorrect: Je l'ai voulu le faire. — I wanted to do it.

Correct: J'ai voulu le faire. — I wanted to do it.

The pronoun belongs to the verb that takes the object, which is faire, not vouloir. So it goes in front of the infinitive and appears only once.

The Two Hard Parts

Stacking pronouns and giving commands are where the system stops being intuitive.

Ordering two pronouns in a statement

Follow the five columns: me, te, se, nous, vous come first, then le, la, les, then lui, leur, then y, then en. The English order is irrelevant.

Il me l'a promis.: He promised it to me.
Je le leur enverrai demain.: I'll send it to them tomorrow.
Elle nous y a emmenés.: She took us there.
Il y en a encore trois.: There are still three left.

Y before en is the order in il y en a, which is worth learning as a block because it comes up constantly.

Pronouns in commands

An affirmative imperative pushes the pronouns behind the verb, puts the direct object first, and turns me and te into moi and toi. A negative imperative behaves like an ordinary sentence.

Rends-les-lui.: Give them back to him.
Passe-le-moi.: Pass it to me.
Donnez-m'en un peu.: Give me a little of it.
Ne le leur dis pas.: Don't tell them.

Before en, moi shortens back to m', which is why it's donne-m'en and not donne-moi-en.

When a pronoun can't be used at all

A handful of verbs keep their preposition and take a stressed pronoun instead. There is no unstressed form available, so the pronoun stays after the verb.

Je pense à toi.: I'm thinking about you.
Nous comptons sur vous.: We're counting on you.
Elle s'intéresse à lui.: She's interested in him.
Il a besoin de moi.: He needs me.

With a thing rather than a person these same verbs do use a pronoun: j'y pense, j'en ai besoin.

Object Pronouns FAQs

What are the French object pronouns?: Me, te, nous and vous work as both direct and indirect objects. Le, la and les are direct objects in the third person, lui and leur are indirect. Y replaces à plus a thing or a place, and en replaces de plus a noun.
Where do object pronouns go in a French sentence?: In front of the verb: je te vois. In a compound tense, in front of the auxiliary: je t'ai vu. With an infinitive, in front of the infinitive: je vais te voir. The only exception is an affirmative command, where they follow the verb: regarde-moi.
What order do two object pronouns go in?: Me, te, se, nous, vous first; then le, la, les; then lui, leur; then y; then en. So it's il me le donne but je le lui donne. The order has nothing to do with the English sentence, which puts the indirect object last.
Why does the order change in commands?: In an affirmative imperative there's no subject in front of the verb, so the pronouns attach behind it instead, and the direct object comes first: donne-le-moi. Me and te become moi and toi in that position. Negative commands keep the ordinary order.
Can I use two indirect object pronouns together?: No. French allows a first or second person pronoun with a third person direct object (il me le donne), or a third person direct with a third person indirect (je le lui donne), but not two indirect ones. He introduced me to her has to be rebuilt: il m'a présenté à elle.