Indirect Pronouns

Indirect objects can only be used for persons and are those people in a sentence to whom the action of the verb occurs. You can determine the indirect object by asking yourself the question, “To whom” or sometimes “for whom”. Many of the verbs of communication (parler, écrire, dire, répondre, demander, téléphoner ) take an indirect object.

☞ Je parle à Caroline. I’m talking to Caroline  ➤  To whom am I talking? to Caroline. object.
☞ Je lui parle. I’m talking to her

The French indirect object pronouns are as follows:

☞ Est-ce que tu parles à ta voisine ?   Do you speak to your (female) neighbour?
☞ Oui, je lui parle !   Yes, I speak to her!

☞ Est-ce que vous écrivez un email aux étudiants ?   Are you writing an email to the students?
☞ Oui je leur écris. un email.    Yes I’m writing an email to them.

Note: When deciding between direct and indirect objects, the general rule is that if the person is preceded by the preposition “à”, that person is an indirect object.

Practice