Il m'a aidé : Direct and indirect object pronouns in the past tense | French

Starter quiz

In French, direct object pronouns precede the ...

noun

adjective

verb ✓

adverb
Match the parts of 'avoir' with the pronouns.

j'

⇔

ai ✓

tu

⇔

as ✓

il/elle

⇔

a ✓

nous

⇔

avons ✓

vous

⇔

avez ✓

ils/elles

⇔

ont ✓
What is missing in this sentence? Tu ______ visité Paris.

'as' ✓
True or false: I went in French is 'j'ai allé'.

'False' ✓
The perfect tense is made up of three parts in French: the subject, the auxiliary verb and the ...

object

adverb

infinitive

past participle ✓
Match these past participles to their English meanings.

choisi

⇔

chose, chosen ✓

entendu

⇔

heard ✓

parti

⇔

left ✓

venu

⇔

came ✓

ouvert

⇔

opened ✓

écrit

⇔

wrote, written ✓

Exit quiz

Match the French and English vocabulary.

grave

⇔

serious ✓

mort

⇔

death ✓

abri

⇔

shelter, refuge ✓

bénévole

⇔

volunteer ✓

arrêt

⇔

stop ✓

mentir

⇔

to lie, lying ✓
What is the French past participle meaning sent back?

'renvoyé' ✓
Which word completes the sentence? J'ai ______ à la police.

renvoyé

suivi

menti ✓
Which word does the direct object pronoun precede in a sentence about the past?

the subject

the object

the auxiliary verb ✓

the past participle
Put these words in order to make a sentence.

1

⇔

tu

2

⇔

m'

3

⇔

as

4

⇔

trouvé

5

⇔

vraiment

6

⇔

étonnant
Which words are missing in this sentence? 'Ils ______ à la maison'. They awaited me at the house.

'm'ont attendu' ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

Direct object pronouns are: me, te, le/la/l', nous, vous, les. They go before the verb.
The word for 'it' in French changes according to whether the noun it replaces is masculine or feminine.
When 'you' (singular formal or plural) is the 'receiver' (object) of the verb, we use vous. It goes before the verb.
When 'us' and 'them' are the 'receivers' (object) of the verb, we use nous and les.

Common misconception

There is only one word for "it" in French.

Nouns are either masculine or feminine. "It", when replacing a noun, also has a masculine and feminine form. Use 'le' for masculine nouns and 'la' for femnine nouns. 'Le' and 'la' shorten to 'l'' when the next word starts with a vowel sound.

Keywords

Direct object pronoun - replaces the noun receiving the action of the verb e.g. me, you, it, them
Auxiliary verb - a form of either 'avoir' or 'être' used to form the perfect tense
Past participle - verb form that forms the perfect tense, together with the auxiliary verb