mardi 12 mars 2013

Pronouns - Part 1: le, la , l' , les

Here follows a résumé of the work we have being doing on object pronouns over the past few weeks:
 
Direct Object Pronouns
le or  l'  =   him / it
la or  l'  =   her / it
les         =  them
 
In French, object pronouns come before the verb.
 
Exemple:
 
 
 
 
                                           Je prépare le dîner = I am preparing dinner
                                           Je le prépare          = I am preparing it
 
 
 
 
                                   Nous regardons la télé       We are watching t.v.
                                   Nous la regardons            We are watching it
 
 
 
                                  Il fait ses devoirs = He is doing his homework
                                  Il les fait             = He is doing it (them)
                                 
                                  N.B. homework (les devoirs) is plural in French
 
 
 
 
 
                                         Il met ses chaussures =  He puts on his shoes
                                         Il les met                  =  He puts them on
                                       
                                          
When talking in the past, if you use the perfect tense the pronoun comes before the auxiliary verb (avoir or être)
 
Exemple:
 

                                           J'ai préparé le dîner  = I prepared dinner
                                           Je l'ai préparé           = I prepared it

Notice that le and la both become l' before a vowel
 
 
                           Nous avons regardé la télé  = We watched t.v.
                           Nous l'avons regardée         = We watched it
 
                   
                                   Il a fait ses devoirs = He did his homework 
                                   Il les a faits            = He did it (them)  

      
 
                                          Il a mis ses chaussures = He put on his shoes
                                          Il les a mises               = He put them on
 
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that some past participles have changed. This is not an essential grammar point for those who just want to get by conversationally, but if you are someone who needs to understand this things, read on......
 
 
MY GRAMMAR TOOLBOX
 
Direct Object Pronouns
 
le, la, l' and les used before the verb are direct object pronouns. The past participle must agree with the preceding direct object pronoun.
 
This means that if the preceding direct object pronoun is feminine singular, the past participle takes an extra e.
 
Exemple 
Nous avons regardé la télé 
Nous l'avons regardée  
 
If the preceding direct object pronoun is masculine plural, then the past participle takes an s.
 
Exemple
Il a fait ses devoirs 
Il les a faits     

If the preceding direct object pronoun is feminine plural, then the past participle takes an e and an s

Exemple
Il a mis ses chaussures 
Il les a mises               










 
 



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