First thing to remember.

A pronoun is a word used in place of one or more nouns and finding the right pronoun in French depends mainly on knowing exactly what you are going to replace.
So the first thing is to be able to recognize the objects in your sentences ; objects being nouns that indicate towards whom or what the action of the verb is directed.

To make it a little easier, we are going to divide the objects into only two main categories : the direct object or the indirect object.
- the direct object is the complement which indicates the object of the action expressed by the verb.
    Ex : Les étudiants regardent le prof.
- the indirect ojbect also indicates the object of the action expressed by the verb, but it’s structure is different ; the complement is linked to the verb by a preposition.
(In French : à, de, pour, avec, contre…)
    Ex :Il parle à Pierre.
          Il joue de la guitare.

Be careful : a direct object in French may be an indirect object in English and vice versa. So when you want to find the right pronoun, always look at your French sentence – don’t translate into English !
    Ex : Il regarde sa montre (direct object).
           He is looking at his watch (indirect object).
           Il téléphone à un ami (indirectobject).
           He is calling a friend (direct object).
 
 

How to find the right pronoun and where to put it in the sentence.

Ideally you have to read and listen to enough French to assimilate them, so that it becomes automatic for you !
More realistically you should understand how pronouns work and then always apply the same method to find the right pronoun and to place it in the sentence, even though at the beginning it’s going to take you some time…it is worth it.
Also you should try to learn a few sentences by heart – it is the easiest way to remember the place of the pronouns in the sentence.
 
 

The French pronouns:
 

	Direct object pronouns	Indirect object pronouns	Stressed pronouns
I	me	me	moi
You	te	te	toi
He / She	le / la	lui	lui / elle
We	nous	nous	nous
You	nous	vous	vous
They	les	leur	eux / elles

 
 
 

Which pronoun?
 

I want to replace a:	The determinant of the object is:		So the right pronoun is:	Example:
DIRECT OBJECT	Le, la, les or an equivalent (possessive adjectives(mon), demonstrative adj.(ce))		LE / LA / LES Me / te / nous / vous	Je regarde la mer. Je la regarde.
	Un, une, des Partitive (du, de la, de l’)		EN	Il mange des fruits. Il en mange.
	Expression of quantity (numbers, trop de… , un verre de…)		EN + expression of quantity	Il boit trop de vin. Il en boit trop.
I want to replace a:	The preposition is:	It is:	So the right pronoun is:	Example:
INDIRECT OBJECT	à	Animated (person, animal…)	LUI / LEUR Me / te /nous /vous	Il parle à Pierre. Il lui parle.
		Inanimated (thing, idea…)	Y	Il va à Paris. Il y va.
	de	Animated (person, animal…)	DE + STRESSED PRONOUN	Vous parlez de Paul. Vous parlez de lui.
		Inanimated (thing, idea…)	EN	Je reviens du Japon. J’en reviens.
	Other prepositions	Animated (person, animal…)	PREPOSITION + STRESSED pron.	Il discute avec Karl. Il discute avec lui.
		Inanimated (thing, idea…)	Non Replaceable

 
 
 
 
 

Where to put the pronouns in the sentence?

The French pronouns are always placed BEFORE the verb, whether the verb is in présent, imparfait or passé composé.
    Ex: Je lui parle.
          Je lui parlais.
          Je lui ai parlé.

There are only two exceptions :
- in a sentence with a near future, or whenever you have more than one verb, the pronouns are placed just before the last verb.
    Ex: Je vais aller lui parler.
- in the affirmative command form, the pronouns are placed after the verb.
    Ex: Parle-lui!
 
 
 

How to use double object pronouns?

The pronouns are always going to be in the same order:
    - the first and second person (whether direct or indirect object)
    - the direct object third person
    - the indirect object third person
    - y
    - en

It can also be summarized as follows:

- Normal construction:
 

		me(m’)	le
		te (t’)	la	lui
Sujet +	(ne) +	+	+	+	y +	en +	verbe+	(pas)
		nous	les	leur
		vous

- Affirmative command form construction:
 

		moi (m’)
	le	toi (t’)
	la	lui
Verbe +	+	+	y +	en !
	les	nous
		vous

 
 

Try to remember:

Learn some short sentences by heart.
Elle me le donne ; il le lui dit ; nous lui en parlons ; etc…
 

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