FlexiLingoIn one line
Two pronouns before the verb always come in this order: first and second person, then third-person direct, then third-person indirect, then
y, thenen.
The table
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
me /mə/ | le /lə/ | lui /lɥi/ | y | en |
te /tə/ | la /la/ | leur /lœʁ/ | ||
se /sə/ | les /le/ | |||
nous /nu/ | ||||
vous /vu/ |
The verb comes after column five. And in practice you never get more than two pronouns at once.
English solves this problem a completely different way, which is why the table looks arbitrary. English either orders by function — "he gives me the book", indirect then direct — or escapes with a preposition: "he gives it to me". French has neither option: both pronouns go in front of the verb, in a fixed order set by the table, and there is no
à moito fall back on.
How to use it
Take at most one from each column, and put them in column order:
| Sentence | Analysis | Result |
|---|---|---|
| he gives me the book | me /mə/ (1) + le /lə/ (2) | Il me le donne. /il mə lə dɔn/ |
| he gives him the book | le /lə/ (2) + lui /lɥi/ (3) | Il le lui donne. /il lə lɥi dɔn/ |
| he gives them to them | les /le/ (2) + leur /lœʁ/ (3) | Il les leur donne. /il le lœʁ dɔn/ |
| he gives me some | me /mə/ (1) + en /ɑ̃/ (5) | Il m'en donne. /il mɑ̃ dɔn/ |
| he takes us there | nous /nu/ (1) + y /i/ (4) | Il nous y emmène. /il nu.z‿i ɑ̃.mɛn/ |
The main trap: in columns 1 and 2, the first/second-person pronoun comes first; but in columns 2 and 3, the direct object comes first. So it is
me lebutle lui. The position ofluirelative tomereverses.
There is no way to work this out from the meaning. Memorise the table.
In the positive imperative the order changes
In a positive imperative the pronouns go after the verb, and the direct object always comes first:
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
| the positive-imperative rule | verb + direct + indirect | |
Donne-le-moi ! | give it to me | /dɔn lə mwa/ |
Dis-le-lui ! | tell him | /di.lə.lɥi/ |
Donne-m'en ! | give me some | /dɔn.mɑ̃/ |
Emmenez-nous-y ! | take us there | /ɑ̃m.ne.nu.zi/ |
And in the negative imperative everything reverts to the ordinary rule:
Ne me le donne pas !— the table order again
English matches the positive imperative here — "give it to me", direct first — which is exactly why
Donne-moi-lefeels right and is wrong.
In compound tenses and with two verbs
Both pronouns move together and are never separated:
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
| past | Il me l'a donné. — both before avoir | /il mə la dɔ.ne/ · /a.vwaʁ/ |
| negative past | Il ne me l'a pas donné. | /il nə mə la pa dɔ.ne/ |
| two verbs | Il va me le donner. — both before the infinitive | /il va mə lə dɔ.ne/ |
| negative, two verbs | Il ne va pas me le donner. | /il nə va pa mə lə dɔ.ne/ |
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| He gives it to me. | Il me le donne. | /il mə lə dɔn/ |
| He gives it to him. | Il le lui donne. | /il lə lɥi dɔn/ |
| He gives them to them. | Il les leur donne. | /il le lœʁ dɔn/ |
| He gave it to me. | Il me l'a donné. | /il mə la dɔ.ne/ |
| He doesn't give it to me. | Il ne me le donne pas. | /il nə mə lə dɔn pa/ |
| He wants to give it to me. | Il veut me le donner. | /il vø mə lə dɔ.ne/ |
| Give it to me! | Donne-le-moi ! | /dɔn lə mwa/ |
| Don't give it to me! | Ne me le donne pas ! | /nə mə lə dɔn pa/ |
| Give me some. | Donne-m'en. | /dɔn mɑ̃/ |
| I told him. | Je le lui ai dit. | /ʒə lə lɥi.j‿e di/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
Il lui le donne. | Il le lui donne. | With the third person, direct comes first |
Il le me donne. | Il me le donne. | With the first person, the person pronoun comes first |
Donne-moi-le ! | Donne-le-moi ! | In a positive imperative, direct comes first |
Il me a donné le. | Il me l'a donné. | Pronouns never detach from the conjugated verb |
Il en me donne. | Il m'en donne. | en is always last |
Il le donne à moi. | Il me le donne. | French has no "to me" escape route here |
Why me le but le lui
two different systems squeezed into one table
The first- and second-person pronouns (me te nous vous) have the same form for direct and indirect. Il me voit and Il me parle both use me.
But the third person has two separate forms: le/la/les against lui/leur.
The consequence: when one of the two pronouns comes from the ambiguous set, it goes in front — since whatever it is, no confusion arises. When both are third person, French puts the direct one first.
A way to remember it: the pronouns line up in order of how personal they are — me and you are closest, so they go first; en, which is neither a person nor a definite thing, goes to the back of the queue.
And the top of the table is more intuitive than it looks, because English shares the instinct: "he gave me the book" puts the person before the thing too. It is only the third-person row, le lui, that reverses — and that is the one line to drill.