Help Learn

This article is an introduction to direct and indirect objects. This article is aimed at learners of the French, Spanish & Italian languages.

By the end of the article you should have an understanding of the key differences between direct and indirect objects.

Why discuss direct and indirect objects in relation to English when learning French, Spanish or Italian?

The reason for looking at the concepts initially in relation to the English language are:

• Once you can identify what are direct and indirect objects in English, you will find it much easier to identify them in a foreign language.
• If you cannot spot a direct or indirect object in English, it will be much more difficult for you to do so in French, Spanish or Italian.

Differences exist between languages

Although the languages being discussed here have some common concepts, please be aware that:

• Something may, for example, be a direct object (or indirect object) in an English sentence but not in a foreign language sentence.
• The concepts of direct object and indirect objects sometimes differ between the languages being discussed when actually applying the rules.
• However, the key concepts on direct and indirect objects are (more or less) the same regardless of whether you are looking at French, Spanish or Italian.

Key question: What is a direct object?

Let´s firstly look at what a direct object is. To do so, we first need to discuss some theory. In technical terms:

• The subject of a sentence is the person(s) or thing(s) doing the action.
• The direct object of a sentence is the person or thing (if any) which is directly acted upon by the action.

Admittedly this wording may sound complicated at first, particularly in relation to direct objects. However, some examples will help you understand these concepts more easily. Look at the following sentences:

• I see John.
• The woman hears the music.
• We throw the ball.
• They need assistance.
• She reads the newspaper.
• The noise annoys the man.

These sentences all have:

• A subject, which here are the people or things doing the action.
• A verb, which is the action being done (i.e. see, hear, throw, need, read and annoy).
• A direct object in each sentence (i.e. John, the music, the ball, assistance , the newspaper and the man). The reason why they are direct objects is for the following reasons:

• John is the direct object of the verb, as he is the person/thing being seen.
• The music is the direct object of the verb, as it is the person/thing being heard.
• The ball is the direct object of the verb, as it is the person/thing being thrown.
• Assistance is the direct object of the verb, as it is the thing/person being needed.
• The newspaper is the direct object of the verb, as it is the thing/person being read.
• The man is the direct object of the verb, as he is the thing/person being annoyed.

If a noun is a direct object in English, it is usually (but not always) also one in Spanish, French and Italian.

What are the French, Spanish and Italian direct object pronouns?

Direct object pronouns can replace a direct object in a sentence. These are:

• In French: me/m´ (me), te/t´ (you*), le/l´ (him or it), la/l´ (her or it), nous (us), vous (you*), les (them)
• In Spanish: me (me), te (you*), lo (him/it/you*), la (her/it/you*), nos (us), os (you), los/las (them/you*)
• In Italian: mi (me), ti (you)***, lo/l´ (him/it), la/l´ (her/it), La (you), ci (us), vi (you), li/le (them)

For info:

• In French, Spanish and Italian the word for "it" is effectively "him" when referring to a masculine object and "her" when referring to a feminine object. "Them" is also either masculine or feminine depending on the gender of the things or people referred to.
• In French "me" changes to "m´" and "te" changes to "t´" in front of a vowel or a h. The words le and la change to l´ in front of a vowel or a h.
• In Italian "la" and "lo" change to "l´" in front of a vowel.
• In Spanish you may hear "le" instead of "lo" when referring to a male person. This is not however discussed further here.

*In French te/t´ is the singular informal "you" whilst vous is the plural and/or formal "you".

** In Spanish te is the informal singular "you", lo is the formal singular "you" when talking to a male. La is the formal singular "you" when talking to a female. Os is the plural informal "you". Los is the formal plural "you" when talking to males or mixed gender. Las is the formal "you" when talking to females.º

*** In Italian "ti" is the informal singular you. Le is the formal singular "you". Vi is the plural "you".

Where Direct Object Pronouns go in a sentence in French, Spanish and Italian (Statements only)

As regards the position of direct object pronouns in a statement in French, Spanish and Italian:

• Direct object pronouns in French, Spanish and Italian statements typically go before the verb (where the verb is not followed by an infinitive) in statements. "I read it" (assuming "it" is a masculine object) using a direct object pronoun is:
  • Je le lis (= French)
  • Lo leo (= Spanish)
  • Lo leggo (= Italian) 
• In relation to verb plus infinitive statements using direct object pronouns:
  • In French the direct object pronoun typically goes immediately before the infinitive (e.g. "He wants to read it" in French (assuming "it" is a masculine singular object would be "Il veut le lire")
  • In Spanish and Italian however the direct object pronoun typically tags onto the infinitive (although before the first verb is also possible)  "He wants to read it" (again assuming "it" is a masculine singular object) using a direct object pronoun would be:
    
    • Quiere leerlo (or Lo quiere leer) (= Spanish)
    • Vuole leggerlo (or Lo vuole leggere) (= Italian)

This is just a general guide to the usual position of direct objects in statements only. (The position of direct object pronouns may vary in questions, commands and sentences containing other elements, such as other pronouns, depending on the language and structure used).

Prepositional Objects are not direct objects

One key point is prepositional objects are not direct objects. These are objects that come after a preposition.

Examples of prepositions are "with", "without", "on", "in", "to", etc.

Anything that follows a preposition, whether it be in French, Spanish or Italian, is usually a prepositional object, for example:

• He lives with his friend.
• The food is on the table.

In the sentences above, "his friend" and "the table" are prepositional objects, not direct objects. This is important when it comes to pronouns in French, Spanish and Italian, because:

• If you replaced the words "his friend" in the sentence above with the word "him" you would need a prepositional pronoun in French, Spanish and Italian. A direct object pronoun would be incorrect, because the object follows the preposition "with".
• If you wanted to replace the word "the table" with "it" in French, Spanish and Italian in the sentence above you would need to use a prepositional pronoun. Again a direct object pronoun would be wrong, because the object follows the preposition "on".

In short an object cannot be a direct object after a preposition. After a preposition the object is a prepositional object*.

* However, there is an exception to this in practice in French in a verb plus infinitive situation where the verb requires the insertion of à or de before the infinitive. Where à or de is inserted after the first verb but before the infinitive, the à/de is not treated as a preposition for pronoun purposes. If a pronoun is inserted immediately after à or de in this situation it will not be prepositional, for example:

• Il continue à l´apprendre = He is continuing to learn it. (Here a direct object pronoun is being used, as it is the thing being learnt. See further up this page for details on direct object pronouns).

This exception can cause confusion. If you have any questions feel free to get in contact.

Summary of Direct Objects

To summarise, essentially there are the following key concepts:

• The subject is the person (or people)/thing (or things) doing the action.
• The direct object is the object of the sentence directly acted upon (e.g. the book being read, the film being watched, the letter being written, etc.).
• A direct object can be replaced with a direct object pronoun. Where to put this in statements is discussed further up this page.
• Note however that objects after a preposition are not direct objects. They are in fact prepositional objects*.

*There is however the exception in French discussed further above.

Indirect objects

Now that we have looked at direct objects, it seems the logical time to take a look at indirect objects.

Indirect objects are by their nature very different from direct objects. In English they usually imply the word “to” in connection with a recipient (e.g. She give the man the gift). In the example the man is an indirect object.

Commonly the indirect object is a recipient of the verb (and possibly also the recipient of any direct object in a sentence). Look at the following sentence:

• She gives the man the book.

In this sentence there is:

• The subject “she”, as she is the one giving.
• The direct object “the gift”, as this is the thing being given.
• The indirect object “the man”, as the gift is being given to the man. He is the recipient of the direct object (i.e. the gift).

Although the word “to” did not appear in the sentence, there is an implied “to” in English. (In English the word "to" is usually dropped when an indirect object appears before a direct object).

If we changed the sentence word order slightly (so that the direct object is now before the indirect object) suddenly the word “to” appears and is necessary:

• She gives the gift to the man.

In fact, this is how you should express the sentence in French, Spanish and Italian, as the word "to" is necessary in all three languages, for example:

• Elle donne le cadeau à l´homme = French (literally: She gives the gift to the man)
• Le da el regalo al hombre = Spanish* (literally: To him she gives the gift to the man)
• Da il regalo all´uomo = Italian (literally: She gives the gift to the man)

*You may have noticed that the Spanish sentence inserted "to him" at the start of the sentence even though this seems unnecessary. It is common to include the indirect object pronoun even if it appears like repetition.

In essence, in French, Spanish and Italian it is not physically possible to say literally "She gives the man the gift": In these languages it is only possible to say literally "She gives the gift to the man". It is not possible to imply the word "to" in French, Spanish and Italian in this way.

If in French, Spanish or Italian you wanted to replace "to the man" with "to him" you would typically use an indirect object pronoun, for example:

• Elle lui donne le cadeau = French (literally: She to him gives the gift)
• Le da el regalo = Spanish* (literally: To him she gives the gift)
• Gli da il regalo = Italian (literally: To him she gives the gift)

Alternatively you could put a prepositional pronoun after the equivalent word for "to" in French, Spanish or Italian, for example:

• Elle donne le livre à lui = French (literally: She gives the book to him)
• Le da el libro a él = Spanish* (literally: To him she gives the book to him)
• Da il libro a lui = Italian (literally: She gives the book to him)

*You may have noticed that the Spanish sentence inserted "to him" (le) at the start of the sentence even though this seems strange. Although it sounds strange in Spanish to include both "to him" effectively twice, it is common to include the indirect object pronoun even though it could be dropped.

What are the French, Spanish and Italian Indirect Object Pronouns?

Essentially "to me", "to you", "to him", "to her", etc. are indirect object pronouns in French, Spanish and Italian and can:

• Either be expressed using the word "to" plus a prepositional pronoun, namely:
  • French: à moi (to me), à toi (to you)*, à lui (to him), à elle (to her), à nous (to us), à vous (to you)*, à eux/elles (to them)
  • Spanish: a mí (to me), a ti (to you)*, a él (to him), a ella (to her), a usted (to you)*, a nosotros/nosotras (to us), a vosotros/vosotras (to you)*, a ellos/ellas (to them), a ustedes (to you)
  • Italian; a mi (to me), a te (to you)*, a lui (to him), a lei (to her), a Lei (to you)*, a noi (to us), a voi (to you)*, a loro (to them)
• Alternatively they can be expressed using an indirect object pronoun, namely:
  • French: me/m´ (to me), te/t´ (to you)*, lui (to him), lui (to her), nous (to us), vous (to you)*, leur (to them)
  • Spanish: me (to me), te (to you)*, le (to him), le (to her), le (to you)*, nos (to us), os (to you)*, les (to them), les (to you)*
  • Italian; mi (to me), ti (to you)*, gli (to him), le (to her), Le (to you)*, ci (to us), vi (to you)*, gli (to them)

*There are different ways to say "to you" in French, Spanish and Italian:

• In French the first one is informal and singular whereas the second one is plural and/or formal.
• In Spanish the first one is informal singular, the second one formal singular, the third one informal plural and the last one formal plural.
• In Italian the first one is informal singular, the second one formal singular and the third one plural.

Also note:

• In French "me" changes to "m´" and "te" changes to "t´" in front of a vowel or a h.

Where to put Indirect Object Pronouns in French, Spanish and Italian sentences (statements only)

As regards word order in statements:

• Indirect object pronouns typically go before the verb (where the verb is not followed by an infinitive). "He gives the present to her"  using an indirect object is:
  • Il lui donne le cadeau (= French)
  • Le da el regalo (= Spanish)
  • Le da il regalo (= Italian) 
• In relation to verb plus infinitive structures using indirect object pronouns:
  • In French the indirect object pronoun typically goes immediately before the infinitive (e.g. "He wants to give the present to her" in French would be "Il veut lui donner le cadeau")
  • In Spanish and Italian however the indirect object pronoun typically tags onto the infinitive (although before the first verb is also possible)  "He wants to give the present to her" using an indirect object pronoun would be:
    
    • Quiere darle el regalo (or Le quiere dar el regalo) (= Spanish)
    • Vuole darle il regalo (or Le vuole dare il regalo) (= Italian)

This is just an introduction to the word order for indirect object pronouns in statements only. (Questions, commands and sentences containing other elements, such as other pronouns, may vary depending on the language and structure used).

 

The verbs "to tell" and "to give"

Two commonly used verbs that can have both a direct and indirect object are the verbs “to say” and “to give”. In sentences using these verbs there is:

• The subject (the person who does the action of telling or giving)
• The direct object (the thing(s) being told or the thing(s) being given)
• The indirect object (the person (or people) to whom the thing(s) are told or given) (i.e. the recipient(s) of the direct object)

Let´s consider an example:

• He gives her the present.
  • Here "he" is the subject, as he is the one doing the action of giving.
  • The present is the direct object, as it is the thing being given.
  • The word "her" is the indirect object pronoun, as she is person "to whom" the present is given.

This sentence in the three languages would typically be:

• In French:
  • Il lui donne le cadeau (literally: He to her gives the present) = French
    
    • "To her" (lui) here is an indirect object pronoun.
  • Alternatively it could be expressed as "Il donne le cadeau à elle" using a prepositional pronoun after à (literally: He gives the present to her)
• In Spanish:
  • Le da el regalo (a ella) or (A ella) le da el regalo (literally: To her he gives the present (to her)" or "To her to her he gives the present")
    
    • "Le" (to her) is an indirect object pronoun whereas ella here is prepositional, as it comes after the preposition a ("to")
    • The words in brackets would be optional and could be said for clarification or emphasis.
    • Although it sounds strange in Spanish to include both "to her" effectively twice, this is possible in Spanish.
• In Italian:
  • Le da il regalo (literally: To her he gives the present)
    
    • "Le" (to her) is an indirect object pronoun
  • Alternatively it could be used using a prepositional pronoun after a (meaning "to"): Da il regalo a lei (literally: He gives the present to her).

Let´s look at another example:

• They give the man it.
  • Here "they" is the subject, as they are are ones doing the action of giving.
  • The word "it" is the direct object, as it is the thing being given.
  • The indirect object is "the man", as the thing is being given "to the man".

It is not however possible to imply "to" for a noun in French, Spanish and Italian. Therefore the sentence needs to be rewritten as:

• They give it to the man.
  • Here "they" is still the subject, as they do the action.
  • The direct object is "it", as it is the object being given.
  • The structure in French, Spanish and Italian this time would be prepositional after the equivalent word for "to".

The sentence would therefore typically be:

• In French: Ils/Elles le/la donnent à l´homme (literally: They it give to the man)
• In Spanish: Se lo/Se la dan al hombre (literally: To him it they give to the man)*
• In Italian: Lo/La danno all´uomo (literally: It they give to the man)

*One complication in Spanish is it is common to include the indirect object pronoun even though this would be unnecessary in English. The reason why "Se" appears at the start of the sentence is "Le" (To him) automatically becomes "Se" when it is followed by "lo", "la", los" and "las". (The same also happens for "les" when followed by "lo", "la", "los" and "las").

Summary of some key points specific to French, Spanish and Italian

Some key points for languages are below, with each language being dealt with in turn:

Summary of some key points for French learners:

• For sentences that have a direct object in French you can either name the direct object (e.g. Il lit le journal = He reads or He is reading the newspaper) or replace it with a direct object pronoun (e.g. Il le lit = He reads it or He is reading it). Details on where to put a direct object pronoun in a sentence is detailed above.
• For sentences that have an indirect object in French you can put an indirect object pronoun in the sentence (e.g. Je lui donne le cadeau = Literally: I to him give the gift). Alternatively you could also add a recipient using à (to), for example, Je donne le cadeau à l´homme = literally: I give the gift to the man.
• Note that if you use a pronoun after the French word à (meaning "to") in an indirect object scenario, the prepositional pronouns should be used, for example, Je donne le cadeau à eux = I give the gift to them (males).
• An exception to prepositional pronouns following prepositions exists in French and was detailed further above.

 Specific points for Spanish learners:

• Spanish sentences with a direct object (e.g. Leo el libro = I read or I am reading the book) can instead be expressed using a direct object pronoun (e.g. Lo leo = I read it or I am reading it).
• For sentences that have an indirect object in Spanish you put an indirect object pronoun in the sentence (e.g. Les doy el regalo = Literally: To them I give the gift). Optionally you could also name a recipient using the Spanish word for "to", namely the word a, for example, Les doy el regalo a los hombres (Or A los hombres les doy el regalo = literally: To them I give the gift to the men or To the men to they I give the gift).
• Although it seems unnecessary, where a Spanish sentence has an indirect object, it is common to include an indirect object pronoun anyway.
• Details of where to position direct object and indirect object pronouns in statements are detailed further above.
• If you put a pronoun after the word “a” in Spanish you need to use a prepositional pronoun after, for example, Te doy el regalo a ti: Literally: To you I give the present to you. (This would be a sentence emphasising "to you").
• Regardless of the above and on an additional point to the main points mentioned in this article, direct objects which are specific people (or pets etc.) usually have the word “a” inserted in front of the direct object. This is known as the “personal a”. This is not discussed in detail here, but by way of example, Miro a mi hermano = I watch (or I am watching) my brother has a personal a, because “my brother” is the direct object and is a person. However Miro la película = I watch (or I am watching) the film does not have a personal a, because the film is not a person. The personal a has no meaning in English and is not related to the English meaning of “to”. For more details on the personal a, feel free to get in contact.

Specific points for Italian learners:

• Italian sentences with a direct object (e.g. Conosco l´uomo = I know the man) can be expressed alternatively using a direct object pronoun (e.g. Lo conosco = I know him).
• Sentences in Italian which have an indirect object (e.g. Do il libro all´uomo = I give the book to the man) can be said instead using an indirect object pronoun (e.g. Gli do il libro = To him I give the book).
• Details of where to put direct and indirect object pronouns in statements are explained further above in this article.
• Note that if you use a pronoun after the word a (meaning "to") the prepositional pronouns should be used, for example, Do il regalo a lui = I give the gift to him.

Differences between languages in the concepts of direct and indirect objects in French, Spanish and Italian

Finally, having discussed the concepts of direct and indirect objects, please note that differences naturally exist between English and the languages discussed in this article. This is particularly so with the concepts of direct and indirect objects.

For example, some English verbs require a prepositional (which in turn is followed by a prepositional object), but in a foreign language simply take a direct object, for example:

• The verb “to look for/to search for”, which in the French language is chercher, the Spanish language buscar and Italian language cercare.
• In these three languages there is no need to write the word “for” after these verbs, so "I am looking for the book" in all three languages would be
  • Je cherche le livre = French (The word "pour" (for) is not used)
  • Busco el libro = Spanish (The word "para" (for) is not used)
  • Cerco il libro = Italian (The word "per" (for) is not used)

• What this means is "the book" in these French, Spanish and Italian sentences are direct objects. By contrast "the book" in an English sentence "I am looking for the book" is a prepositional object.
• This does not seem so important, but if you want to replace "the book" with the word "it" in French, Spanish or Italian you would need to choose a direct object pronoun rather than a prepositional pronoun.

This is just one example of many verbs which require a preposition in English, but do not in French, Spanish and Italian.

By contrast, some verbs may require a preposition in another language but not in English. In this situation any pronoun used after the preposition would usually be a prepositional pronoun and not a direct object pronoun.

The reason why this is relevant to you is if your sentence uses a preposition before an object, it is usually a prepositional object, not a direct object.

As discussed above, where the preposition is the equivalent word of "to" in French (à), Spanish (a) and Italian (a) a prepositional pronoun may be used after. Alternatively an indirect object pronoun can be used.

Final Word

The concepts of direct and indirect objects are complicated, particularly where the concepts may differ between the English language and French, Spanish and Italian. However hopefully you found the article useful as an introduction to the concepts of direct and indirect objects.

If you wish to take your language skills further do get in contact about online language tuition. It is offered in Spanish, French, Italian and German.