This is part 2 of a 2-part series on object pronouns. If you missed the first part, be sure to read it here before you continue.

Indirect object pronouns (henceforth IOPs, also known as POIs or pronom d’objet indirect in French) replace an indirect object. An indirect object is preceded by a preposition, and hence does not follow directly after the verb but instead is indirectly linked to it. In the example Je donne les pommes à Judy, ‘Judy’ is an indirect object because it is preceded by the preposition ‘à’. ‘Les pommes’ on the other hand is a direct object since it follows directly after the verb. So, in French, an IOP replaces ‘à + indirect object’.

A quick way to determine whether or not an object is indirect is to break down the structure of the phrase to its bare form, in this instance ‘donner quelque chose à quelqu’un’ (you can find these in the dictionary). We can see clearly now that the entity to whom the thing is given is indirect (à quelqu’un) while the thing itself is direct (quelque chose).

The IOPs in French are:

me → me

te → you

lui → him/her

nous → us

vous → you

leur → them

So, Je donne les pommes à Judy becomes Je lui donne les pommes.

In the passé composé, the past participle does not agree in gender and number with the IOP. E.g. J’ai donné les pommes à Judy → Je lui ai donné les pommes (no agreement even though ‘Judy’ refers to a feminine entity)

Because of word-order flexibility, prepositions associated with indirect objects can sometimes be omitted in English while still retaining the grammaticality of a phrase, but they are always required in French. ‘I gave the apples to Judy’ can also be written as ‘I gave Judy the apples’, but ‘J’ai donné Judy les pommes’ is grammatically incorrect.

Take note that some constructions using prepositions in English don’t employ them in French and vice versa. E.g. to wait for someone → attendre quelqu’un. In this example, the phrase uses a preposition ‘for’ in English, whereas the French equivalent does not. So in French it is direct whereas in English it is indirect. Be careful when translating these!

The ‘à’ in certain indirect expressions doesn’t always correspond to ‘to’ in English. Different prepositions may be used which could change the meaning of the expression. A good example is acheter qch à qn which means ‘to buy something from someone’. Another expression that follows the same pattern is emprunter qch à qn (to borrow something from someone). These tend to be in the minority. You can use a dictionary to find the correct preposition associated with an expression and what it translates to in English.

Order of DOPs and IOPs appearing together

You might be wondering what order DOPs and IOPs take when they appear together. The answer is a matter of grammatical person. In the third person (both singular and plural), the DOP is placed before the IOP. It is the reverse with all other persons.

E.g. I give it to him → Je le lui donne

He gives it to me → Il me le donne

This follows the same pattern in the passé composé:

I gave it to him → Je le lui ai donné

He gave it to you → Il te l’a donné  

Because of the presence of a DOP, the past participle will still agree with it in the passé composé:

J’ai donné la pomme à Judy → Je la lui ai donnée

Some expressions with the preposition ‘à’ don’t use IOPs (quelle surprise, right?) Instead, they use disjunctive pronouns (also known as stressed pronouns) or other pronouns like ‘y’. Penser à is an example of an expression which uses disjunctive pronouns:

Je pense à ma mère – Je pense à elle (not ‘Je lui pense’)

If the indirect object is a thing instead of a person (or animal), the pronoun ‘y’ is used instead of an IOP:

Je pense à mon avenir – J’y pense

Il croit à l’éducation – Il y croit