Pronouns

This unit covers subject, object, reflexive, emphatic and relative pronouns, along with y and en and the tu and vous distinction.

Word order is the recurring difficulty, because French places object pronouns before the verb where English places them after — je le vois means I see him. The choice between direct and indirect pronouns is decided by whether the original sentence used à: je parle à Marc becomes je lui parle, while je vois Marc becomes je le vois. Relative pronouns follow a reliable test — if a verb comes straight after, use qui; if a subject comes first, use que. The tu and vous choice is assessed in role-plays and vous is the safer default.