Indirect object pronouns (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur)

Tu as parlé à Marc ? Oui, je lui ai parlé.Did you talk to Marc? Yes, I talked to him.

Many French verbs introduce the person they're about with the preposition à — parler à quelqu'un, téléphoner à quelqu'un, donner quelque chose à quelqu'un. For these verbs, instead of repeating that person's name, French replaces à + person with a short indirect object pronoun — me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur — placed right before the conjugated verb.

This is a close cousin of the direct object pronouns (me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les), which replace a person or thing with no preposition in between (je connais Marc). The two sets share four forms — me, te, nous, vous — and only really differ in the third person.

Not every à + person works this way, though: a smaller group of verbs — penser à, s'intéresser à, tenir à, faire attention à — keeps à and uses a stressed pronoun instead (Tu penses à Marc ? Oui, je pense à lui., never ❌ je lui pense). This article covers the everyday verbs that do take me/te/lui/nous/vous/leur.

Quick shortcut: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur go right before the conjugated verb, exactly like the direct object pronouns — the difference is just the third person: lui and leur, never le/la/les.

The forms

Right before the verb, not after

Just like the direct object pronouns, an indirect object pronoun goes immediately before the conjugated verb in an ordinary statement, not after it.

• ✅ Je lui téléphone. — never ❌ Je téléphone lui.
• ✅ Elle nous écrit. — never ❌ Elle écrit nous.

Where English says "I'm writing to her" (à + person, after the verb), French says je lui écris (pronoun before the verb).

The one exception is the affirmative imperative (Téléphone-lui !), where the pronoun attaches right after the verb instead — the same exception the direct object pronouns have, and its own separate topic.

lui and leur don't mark gender

Unlike le and la, lui doesn't change for gender — it means "to him" and "to her":

• Tu parles à Marc ? → Oui, je lui parle. (Yes, I'm talking to him.)
• Tu parles à Sophie ? → Oui, je lui parle. (Yes, I'm talking to her.)

leur works the same way for any plural, whether the people are men, women, or a mixed group:

• Tu écris à tes frères ? → Oui, je leur écris.
• Tu écris à tes sœurs ? → Oui, je leur écris.

Context — not the pronoun — tells you who lui or leur refers to.

Verbs that take à + person

A handful of everyday verbs regularly introduce their person with à, which is what calls for lui/leur instead of le/la/les: parler à, téléphoner à, répondre à, écrire à, dire à, demander à, donner à, envoyer à, montrer à, sourire à, plaire à, ressembler à, obéir à.

A few of these translate into English with no preposition at all — "phone someone," "answer someone," "obey someone" all sound like direct objects in English, even though French treats them as indirect (téléphoner à…, répondre à…, obéir à…). Watch out for exactly these verbs: they're where a learner reaches for le/la/les out of habit and needs lui/leur instead.

In a negative sentence

ne... pas wraps around both the pronoun and the verb together — the pronoun stays glued to the verb, right after ne:

• Je ne lui téléphone pas. (I'm not calling him/her.)
• Elle ne leur répond pas. (She's not answering them.)

With another verb (aller, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir + infinitive)

When the pronoun's verb is an infinitive right after aller, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir and similar verbs, the pronoun moves to sit right before that infinitive, not before the first verb:

• Je vais lui téléphoner ce soir. (I'm going to call him/her tonight.) — never ❌ Je lui vais téléphoner.
• Tu peux leur écrire demain. (You can write to them tomorrow.)

This isn't the pattern for every two-verb sentence, though — position with faire and verbs of perception is its own separate topic, already forward-mentioned for the direct object pronouns and identical here.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Je téléphone elle. → ✅ Je lui téléphone. (the pronoun replaces à + person — you can't just drop the à and use a bare stressed pronoun; à elle can still appear alongside lui for contrast: Je lui téléphone, à elle, pas à lui.)
• ❌ Je la réponds. → ✅ Je lui réponds. (répondre à takes an indirect object, so the pronoun is lui, not la)
• ❌ Elle lui voit. → ✅ Elle le voit. (voir quelqu'un has no à — it's a direct object, so the pronoun is le, not lui)
• ❌ Je lui vais parler. → ✅ Je vais lui parler. (with an infinitive, the pronoun goes right before that verb)

Quick check

Replace the underlined phrase with the correct pronoun.

1. Tu téléphones à Marc ce soir ? → Tu ____ téléphones ce soir ? (le / lui)
2. Elle donne le livre à ses amies. → Elle ____ donne le livre. (les / leur)
3. Je vois mes cousins demain. → Je ____ vois demain. (leur / les)
4. Il répond à sa mère. → Il ____ répond. (la / lui)
5. Je vais écrire à mes parents ce soir. → Je vais ____ écrire ce soir. (leur / les)

Key takeaways

• The indirect object pronouns are me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur — they replace a person introduced by à after verbs like parler à, téléphoner à, donner à. A smaller group of verbs (penser à, tenir à...) uses a stressed pronoun instead — à lui, not lui.
• lui and leur don't mark gender — lui covers "to him" and "to her" alike, and leur covers any plural.
• They go right before the conjugated verb, the same position rule as the direct object pronouns; the affirmative imperative is the one exception.
• In a negative sentence, ne... pas wraps around the pronoun and the verb together.
• After aller, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir + infinitive, the pronoun moves to sit right before that infinitive: je vais lui téléphoner.
• Some à-verbs (téléphoner à, répondre à, obéir à) translate to direct-object verbs in English — don't let that pull you toward le/la/les when French wants lui/leur.