French object pronoun position: before the verb, or after it in the imperative

Tu vois Marc demain ? Oui, je vais le voir.Are you seeing Marc tomorrow? Yes, I'm going to see him.

You've already met the direct object pronouns (me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les) and the indirect object pronouns (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur), and the basic rule that they sit right before the conjugated verb. What changes from one sentence to the next is exactly which verb counts as "the" verb to stand in front of — and there's one construction, the affirmative imperative, where the pronoun doesn't go in front at all. This article gathers all of that position logic in one place, for a single pronoun.

Quick shortcut: the pronoun goes right before the conjugated verb in a statement or negative sentence, right before the infinitive after aller, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir and similar verbs, and right after the verb with a hyphen only in the affirmative imperative — where a negative command puts it straight back in front.

In an ordinary statement

The pronoun — direct or indirect, it makes no difference — sits immediately before the conjugated verb:

• ✅ Je le vois. — never ❌ Je vois le.
• ✅ Je lui téléphone. — never ❌ Je téléphone lui.

(For the full form tables and the choice between le/la/les and lui/leur, see the two articles linked above.)

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 le vois pas. (I don't see it/him.)
• Elle ne lui téléphone pas. (She isn't calling him/her.)

Before an infinitive: aller, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir — and the futur proche

When the pronoun's verb is an infinitive coming 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 le voir demain. (I'm going to see him tomorrow.) — never ❌ Je le vais voir.
• Tu peux lui téléphoner ce soir. (You can call him/her tonight.)
• Elle veut les inviter. (She wants to invite them.)
• Nous devons leur écrire. (We have to write to them.)

This is the same rule behind the futur proche (aller + infinitive): the pronoun always attaches to the infinitive that it's actually the object of, wherever that infinitive ends up in the sentence — ✅ Je vais lui parler., never ❌ Je lui vais parler.

This isn't the pattern for every two-verb sentence, though — with faire or a verb of perception like voir or entendre + infinitive, the pronoun instead goes before the first verb (Je le fais partir., not ❌ Je fais le partir.). That construction is its own separate topic.

In the affirmative imperative: after the verb, with a hyphen

The imperative is the one place a single object pronoun breaks the "before the verb" habit. In an affirmative command, it attaches right after the verb with a hyphen — and me and te become moi and toi:

• Regarde-le ! (Look at him/it!)
• Écoute-moi ! (Listen to me!) — not ❌ Écoute-me !
• Téléphone-lui ! (Call him/her!)
• Invitez-les ! (Invite them!)

In the negative imperative: back in front

Negate the same command, and the pronoun goes straight back to its normal spot in front of the verb, with moi/toi reverting to me/te and the whole thing wrapped in ne... pas:

• ✅ Ne le regarde pas ! — never ❌ Ne regarde-le pas !
• ✅ *Ne **m'*écoute pas ! (me contracts to m' before the vowel of écoute, exactly like in a statement)
• ✅ Ne lui téléphone pas !

All positions at a glance

Common mistakes

• ❌ Je vois le. → ✅ Je le vois. (the pronoun goes before the verb in a statement, not after — the opposite of English)
• ❌ Je le vais voir. → ✅ Je vais le voir. (with an infinitive, the pronoun goes right before that verb, not the first one)
• ❌ Écoute-me ! → ✅ Écoute-moi ! (in the affirmative imperative, me becomes moi once it attaches after the verb)
• ❌ Ne regarde-le pas ! → ✅ Ne le regarde pas ! (a negative command puts the pronoun straight back in front of the verb)

Quick check

Choose the sentence with the pronoun in the right place.

1. (I'm calling her.) → Je téléphone lui. / Je lui téléphone.
2. (I'm going to invite them.) → Je vais les inviter. / Je les vais inviter.
3. (Look at me!) → Regarde-moi ! / Regarde-me !
4. (Don't call him! — negative command) → Ne l'appelle pas ! / N'appelle-l' pas !
5. (We have to write to them.) → Nous devons leur écrire. / Nous leur devons écrire.

Key takeaways

• In an ordinary statement or negative sentence, a single object pronoun goes right before the conjugated verb, whether it's a direct object pronoun (le, la, les...) or an indirect one (lui, leur...).
• After aller, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir and similar verbs, the pronoun moves to sit right before the infinitive it actually belongs to — this is the same rule behind the futur proche.
• The affirmative imperative is the one exception: the pronoun attaches after the verb with a hyphen, and me/te become moi/toi.
• A negative command puts the pronoun straight back in front of the verb, inside ne... pas, with moi/toi reverting to me/te.
• Faire and verbs of perception (voir, entendre) + infinitive don't follow the aller-style rule — the pronoun stays with the first verb instead. That's its own separate topic.