Grammar / A2 : Elementary / Indirect object pronouns
Indirect object pronouns
lui, leur: replacing the indirect object.
The indirect object : the pronoun that ignores gender
The previous lesson covered COD pronouns, which replace direct objects: nouns linked to the verb with no preposition. COI pronouns (complément d'objet indirect) work on the same principle but for indirect objects: nouns linked to the verb through the preposition à. "I speak to him", "She writes to them", "He gives it to her": all of these involve indirect objects.
The most important thing to understand about COI pronouns at third person is that gender disappears: lui means both "to him" and "to her", and leur means "to them" regardless of gender. This is the direct opposite of COD, where le and la maintain gender throughout.
1. The COI pronouns
| Pronoun | Before vowel | Replaces | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| me | m' | to me | Il me parle. (He speaks to me.) |
| te | t' | to you (sg. informal) | Je te réponds. (I reply to you.) |
| lui | lui | to him / to her (no gender) | Je lui écris. (I write to him / to her.) |
| nous | nous | to us | Elle nous envoie un message. (She sends us a message.) |
| vous | vous | to you (pl. or formal) | Je vous explique. (I explain to you.) |
| leur | leur | to them (no gender) | Il leur téléphone. (He calls them.) |
⚠ lui and leur have no gender. lui replaces both à lui (to him) and à elle (to her). leur replaces both à eux (to them, masc.) and à elles (to them, fem.). This is the key difference from COD, where le and la are distinct.
COD: Je le vois. (I see him.) / Je la vois. (I see her.) (gender matters)
COI: Je lui parle. (I speak to him.) / Je lui parle. (I speak to her.) (same form)
2. Identifying the indirect object
The indirect object answers "to whom?" or "for whom?" after the verb. There is always a preposition (almost always à) between the verb and the noun.
| Sentence | Question | Indirect object | Pronoun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Je parle à Marc. | Je parle à qui ? | à Marc (masc. sg.) | lui |
| Il téléphone à Marie. | Il téléphone à qui ? | à Marie (fem. sg.) | lui |
| Elle écrit à ses parents. | Elle écrit à qui ? | à ses parents (pl.) | leur |
| Tu réponds à ton professeur. | Tu réponds à qui ? | à ton professeur (masc. sg.) | lui |
| Nous donnons des livres aux enfants. | Nous donnons à qui ? | aux enfants (pl.) | leur |
3. Common verbs that take COI
These verbs are followed by à + person. In everyday French they are constantly used with COI pronouns.
| Verb | Meaning | Example with COI |
|---|---|---|
| parler à | to speak to | Je lui parle. (I speak to him/her.) |
| téléphoner à | to call | Il lui téléphone. (He calls him/her.) |
| écrire à | to write to | Elle leur écrit. (She writes to them.) |
| répondre à | to reply to | Je lui réponds. (I reply to him/her.) |
| dire à | to tell | Il lui dit la vérité. (He tells him/her the truth.) |
| donner à | to give to | Elle lui donne un livre. (She gives him/her a book.) |
| expliquer à | to explain to | Il leur explique le cours. (He explains the lesson to them.) |
| montrer à | to show to | Je lui montre la photo. (I show him/her the photo.) |
| envoyer à | to send to | Elle lui envoie un email. (She sends him/her an email.) |
| demander à | to ask | Je lui demande l'heure. (I ask him/her the time.) |
| offrir à | to give, offer | Il lui offre des fleurs. (He gives him/her flowers.) |
| apporter à | to bring to | Elle lui apporte un café. (She brings him/her a coffee.) |
| ressembler à | to look like | Il lui ressemble. (He looks like him/her.) |
| obéir à | to obey | Il lui obéit. (He obeys him/her.) |
| plaire à | to please, be liked by | Ça lui plaît. (He/she likes it: lit. that pleases to him/her.) |
⚠ téléphoner à and répondre à take a COI (not a COD, even though the English equivalents ("to call someone", "to answer someone") suggest a direct object).
❌ Je le téléphone. · ✓ Je lui téléphone.
❌ Je le réponds. · ✓ Je lui réponds.
4. Position in sentences
COI pronouns follow the same position rules as COD pronouns: they go before the conjugated verb in a simple sentence.
| With noun (indirect object) | With COI pronoun |
|---|---|
| Je parle à Marc. | Je lui parle. |
| Il écrit à ses amis. | Il leur écrit. |
| Elle téléphone à sa mère. | Elle lui téléphone. |
| Nous répondons aux étudiants. | Nous leur répondons. |
| Il me parle souvent. | - me already in place |
5. Negation
| Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|
| Je lui parle. | Je ne lui parle pas. (I don't speak to him/her.) |
| Il leur téléphone. | Il ne leur téléphone pas. (He doesn't call them.) |
| Elle me répond. | Elle ne me répond pas. (She doesn't reply to me.) |
6. Compound tenses : no agreement
In compound tenses, the COI pronoun goes before the auxiliary: the same position as COD. However, the past participle does not agree with a COI pronoun. This is the crucial difference from COD.
COI: pronoun before auxiliary (NO agreement on the past participle)
| With COD (agreement) | With COI (no agreement) |
|---|---|
| Il l'a vue. (He saw her.): vue agrees with la | Il lui a parlé. (He spoke to her.) · parlé unchanged |
| Je les ai invités. (I invited them.): invités agrees with les | Je leur ai écrit. (I wrote to them.) · écrit unchanged |
| Tu l'as appelée. (You called her.): appelée agrees with la | Tu lui as téléphoné. (You called her.): téléphoné unchanged |
J'ai rencontré Marie hier. Je lui ai dit bonjour et elle m'a répondu.
(I met Marie yesterday. I said hello to her and she replied to me.) (both dit and répondu unchanged because COI pronouns precede them).
Ses parents ? Il leur a envoyé une lettre la semaine dernière.
(His parents? He sent them a letter last week.): envoyé unchanged.
7. With infinitives
The COI pronoun goes before the infinitive when a modal or other governing verb precedes it.
| With noun | With COI pronoun |
|---|---|
| Je vais parler à Marc. | Je vais lui parler. (I'm going to speak to him.) |
| Tu dois répondre à ta mère. | Tu dois lui répondre. (You must reply to her.) |
| Il peut écrire à ses amis. | Il peut leur écrire. (He can write to them.) |
8. Both COD and COI together
When a sentence has both a COD and a COI pronoun, both appear before the verb. The order depends on the persons involved:
1st/2nd person pronouns come first, then 3rd person:
me / te / nous / vous → le / la / les → lui / leur
| With nouns | With both pronouns |
|---|---|
| Il donne le livre à Marie. | Il le lui donne. (He gives it to her.): COD le before COI lui |
| Elle envoie les photos à ses amis. | Elle les leur envoie. (She sends them to them.) |
| Il montre la photo à moi. | Il me la montre. (He shows it to me.): COI me before COD la |
| Elle dit la vérité à nous. | Elle nous la dit. (She tells it to us.) |
9. COD vs COI : complete comparison
| COD (direct object pronoun) | COI (indirect object pronoun) | |
|---|---|---|
| Preposition in original sentence | None | à (usually) |
| Test | Je vois qui / quoi ? | Je parle à qui ? |
| 3rd sg. pronoun | le (masc.) / la (fem.) (gender matters) | lui (no gender distinction) |
| 3rd pl. pronoun | les | leur |
| Agreement in passé composé | Yes: Je l'ai vue. | No: Je lui ai parlé. |
| Example | Je le regarde. / Je la regarde. | Je lui parle. (same for both genders) |
The same verb (different constructions:)
appeler quelqu'un (to call someone, no preposition): Je l'appelle. (COD)
téléphoner à quelqu'un (to call someone, with à): Je lui téléphone. (COI)
Both mean "to call someone" in English. In French, the verb determines the construction.
10. Key points
✓ COI pronouns: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur
✓ lui = to him AND to her (no gender distinction at 3rd person singular)
✓ leur = to them (no gender distinction at 3rd person plural)
✓ Identify COI by asking "à qui?" after the verb
✓ Position: before the conjugated verb (same rule as COD)
✓ No agreement of past participle with COI (unlike COD)
✓ With infinitives: COI pronoun goes before the infinitive
✓ Two pronouns together: me/te/nous/vous before le/la/les; le/la/les before lui/leur
✓ Watch out: téléphoner à and répondre à take COI (not COD)