When one sentence replaces two objects, French uses two pronouns in a fixed order: me, te, se, nous, vous, then le, la, les, then lui, leur, then y, then en. This lesson teaches the order, how the pair moves through every tense as one block, and how agreement still works.
1Order: me, te, se, nous, vous → le, la, les → lui, leur → y → en.
2le, la, les go beforelui, leur (je le lui donne) but afterme, te, nous, vous (il me le donne).
3y before en: il y en a. Me, te, se, le, la shorten before them: m'en, t'en, s'en, l'y.
4The pair is one block: before the conjugated verb, before the auxiliary (je te l'ai donné), or before the infinitive (je vais te le donner). Never split it.
5Agreement follows only the direct object pronoun before avoir: Je te les ai données — never lui, leur or en.
So far you have replaced one object at a time: Je le donne (I give it), Je lui donne le livre (I give him the book). But many verbs have two objects at once — you give something to someone, you lend it to them, you talk to her about it. In conversation, once both have been mentioned, French replaces both: Tu as donné le livre à Marie ? Oui, je le lui ai donné (Yes, I gave it to her). English shuffles the words around freely (I gave it to her, I gave her it), but French has one fixed order, and it is the same in every tense. Learn the order once and every combination falls into place.
The fixed order
Slot
Pronouns
What they are
Example pair
1
me, te, se, nous, vous
first and second person (and reflexive se), direct or indirect
Il me le prête. (He lends it to me.)
2
le, la, les
third-person direct objects
Je la leur explique. (I explain it to them.)
3
lui, leur
third-person indirect objects
Tu les lui rends. (You give them back to him.)
4
y
à + thing, or a place
Je les y retrouve. (I meet them there.)
5
en
de + thing, a partitive or a quantity
Elle m'en parle. (She talks to me about it.)
Read the slots left to right: me, te, se, nous, vous → le, la, les → lui, leur → y → en. A sentence uses at most one pronoun from each slot, and in practice almost never more than two pronouns.
Fig 1The five slots of the object-pronoun order, from me, te, se, nous, vous on the left to en on the right, with the pairs that each slot forms.
Three tricks for the order
1.Le, la, les come before lui, leur — dictionary order: la, le, les are listed before leur and lui. 2.Y always comes before en: think of il y en a (there are some). 3. Slot 1 and slot 3 never meet: me, te, nous, vous cannot sit next to lui or leur. Notice that English-style logic (person first, or thing first) does not work: it is person + thing in me le but thing + person in le lui. Trust the slots, not the meaning.
Pair
Full sentence
With two pronouns
English
me + la
Tu me prêtes ta calculatrice ?
Tu me la prêtes ?
Will you lend it to me?
nous + les
Elle nous envoie les billets.
Elle nous les envoie.
She sends them to us.
le + lui
Je donne le cadeau à Marie.
Je le lui donne.
I give it to her.
la + leur
Nous expliquons la règle aux joueurs.
Nous la leur expliquons.
We explain it to them.
lui + en
J'achète des fleurs à ma mère.
Je lui en achète.
I buy her some.
leur + en
On donne deux billets aux voisins.
On leur en donne deux.
We give them two.
te + en
Je te parle de mon projet.
Je t'en parle.
I'm talking to you about it.
Me, te, se, le and la shorten before y and en: m'en, t'en, s'en, l'y. Lui and leur never shorten.
The pair moves as one block, in every tense
Tense or structure
Example
English
présent
Je te le donne. / Je ne te le donne pas.
I give it to you. / I don't give it to you.
passé composé
Je te l'ai donné. / Je ne te l'ai pas donné.
I gave it to you. / I didn't give it to you.
futur simple
Je te le donnerai demain.
I'll give it to you tomorrow.
futur proche or modal + infinitive
Je vais te le donner. / Je peux te le donner.
I'm going to give it to you. / I can give it to you.
question with inversion
Le lui as-tu vendu ? — Non, je ne le lui ai pas vendu.
Did you sell it to him? — No, I didn't sell it to him.
The two pronouns stay side by side, in front of the same verb a single pronoun would go in front of. In the negative, ne goes before the whole block and pas after the conjugated verb; when the block belongs to an infinitive, it stays with the infinitive, outside the negation: Je ne vais pas te le donner.
Never split the pair
Both pronouns go in the same place. Je le ai lui donné and Je vais le donner lui are impossible: the correct forms are Je le lui ai donné and Je vais le lui donner. And with a verb + infinitive, both pronouns belong to the infinitive: Je vous les vais montrer is wrong; say Je vais vous les montrer.
Agreement still follows the direct object
Les clés ? Je te les ai données. — les (= les clés, feminine plural) is a direct object before avoir → -es.
La lettre ? Je la lui ai envoyée. — la is direct and feminine → -e. Lui plays no part.
Des photos ? Je lui en ai envoyé. — no agreement: lui is indirect and en never triggers agreement.
Le livre ? Je le leur ai prêté. — le is masculine singular, so the participle keeps its basic form.
When slot 1 meets slot 3
Because me, te, nous, vous can never sit beside lui or leur, French keeps the person after the verb with à and a stressed pronoun: Je vous présente à elle (I'm introducing you to her). This is rare in everyday speech, but it shows that the slot system is a real rule, not just a habit.
Loading interactive…
Build sentences with two object pronouns: choose the objects to replace and check that each pronoun lands in its slot, in different tenses and in the negative.
Léa : Hugo, tu as rendu le chargeur à papa ?
Hugo : Oui, je le lui ai rendu hier soir.
Léa : Et mes écouteurs ? Tu me les as pris ?
Hugo : Non, je ne te les ai pas pris ! Maman te les a empruntés ce matin.
Léa : Ah bon. Et les biscuits pour la fête ? Il y en a encore ?
Hugo : Il y en a trois. Je t'en donne un si tu veux.
Léa : Non merci, garde-les. Tu leur en as promis, à tes amis, non ?
Translation: Léa: Hugo, did you give the charger back to Dad? — Hugo: Yes, I gave it back to him last night. — Léa: And my earbuds? Did you take them from me? — Hugo: No, I didn't take them from you! Mom borrowed them from you this morning. — Léa: Oh. And the cookies for the party? Are there any left? — Hugo: There are three. I'll give you one if you want. — Léa: No thanks, keep them. You promised your friends some, didn't you? Check each pair against the slots: le lui (2 + 3), me les and te les (1 + 2), y en (4 + 5), t'en (1 + 5), leur en (3 + 5). Empruntés agrees with les (= les écouteurs, masculine plural); te means from you, an indirect object, so it plays no part.
Worked examples
Reveal one step at a time and try to beat it to the next line.
Example 1
Answer with two pronouns: Tu prêtes ton vélo à Samir ? — Oui, ...
Example 2
Answer in the negative: Tu as envoyé les invitations à tes amis ? — No, I haven't sent them to them yet.
Example 3
Replace both objects: Ma mère m'achète des oranges.
Example 4
Replace both objects: Je vais expliquer la règle aux nouveaux joueurs.
Where marks get lost
Putting the person first because English does: je lui le donne. With third-person pronouns the order is le lui: je le lui donne.
Splitting the pair around the auxiliary: je le ai lui donné. Both pronouns go before the auxiliary: je le lui ai donné.
Putting the pair in front of the conjugated verb when an infinitive follows: je vous les vais montrer. Correct: je vais vous les montrer.
Reversing y and en: il en y a. The order is il y en a.
Forgetting agreement with the direct object in a pair: Les photos ? Je te les ai envoyé. Correct: je te les ai envoyées.
Flashcards 9
Double-pronoun order
I give it to her. (le cadeau)
He lends it to me. (son vélo)
I buy her some. (des fleurs)
+ 5 more
Practice
1
Replace both objects: Il donne le livre à Marie.
2
Rewrite replacing sa voiture with a pronoun (no period): Elle me prête sa voiture.
3
Replace both objects and write only the two pronouns, in order: Je donne des bonbons aux enfants.
4
Tu as envoyé les photos à ta mère ? Choose the correct answer.
5
Write only the two missing pronouns: Il reste du lait dans le frigo ? Oui, il ___ a. (= there is some)
6
Put the words in order: No, I didn't sell it to him.
1vendu
2pas
3ai
4Non,
5je
6ne
7le
8lui
7
Translate: I'm going to show them to you. (vous)
8
Match each French sentence with its meaning.
Je te le donne.
Je le lui donne.
Je les leur donne.
Je t'en donne.
Il y en a.
Je vous les donne.
9
Write the past participle of prêter with the correct agreement: Mes lunettes ? Mon frère me les a ___.
10
Which pair of pronouns can never appear side by side in front of a verb?
11
Write only the two missing pronouns: Tu parles de ton projet à tes parents ? Oui, je ___ parle.
12
Translate with inversion: Did you sell it to him? (it = le vélo)