French Notes

Stress pronouns are the last category of pronouns to cover. They are the personal pronouns used with prepositions (and the verb penser à).
DOP’s replace people and things when they are the direct object of a sentence.
IOP’s replace à people.
What does one use when one wants to say “with me”, ” for them”, or “next to her”? – all of the pronouns in these examples come after prepositions.

Stress Pronoun List

me – moi
you – toi
him – lui
her – elle
us – nous
you – vous
them (mixed or masc.) – eux
them (feminine) – elles

*For a list of common prepositions, see this link Prepositions Page

for me – pour moi
with them – avec eux
next to her – à côté d’elle
from you – de toi

* Stress pronouns are also used following “c’est”*
C’est lui qui corrige les autres. – He’s the one who corrects the others.

* Stress pronouns are also used when making comparisons.*
Tu cours plus vite que moi. – You run faster than I do.
Il parle plus couramment qu’eux. – He speaks more fluently than they do.
Vous dansez mieux que lui. – You dance better than he does.

* Used with aussi and non plus*
Moi aussi.
Moi non plus

*Stress pronouns can replace subject pronouns if there is more than one subject*
Charles et moi, nous sommes copains.
Eux et moi, nous sommes les seuls à comprendre.

*There are also some verbs that take stress pronouns when used with people.*
Penser à – to think about
Penser de – to think of (have an opinion)
Songer à – to think about, to dream about
Rêver à – to dream about
Courir à – to run to
Venir à – to come to
Aller à – to go to
Être à – to belong to (a person)
Être habitué á – to be used to
S’habituer á – to be used to
S’adresser á – to address oneself to
S’intéresser à – to be interested in
Faire attention à – to pay attention to
Tenir à – to value

Je pense à toi. I’m thinking of you.
Ce sac à dos est à lui – this backpack is his.
Nous faisons attention à elle. – we’re paying attention to her.
Viens à moi. Come to me.
Go to them. Vas à eux.
La fille s’habitue à nous. The girl is getting used to us.
Je veux aller avec eux, mais je n’irai pas sans toi.
Je sortirai après lui pour aller chez vous.
Je me fie à lui.
Il a couru à elle.
Chacun travaille pour soi.
On est toujours content de rentrer chez soi.
Fais attention à eux, ils ne t’aiment pas.
Je tiens à elle parce qu’elle m’est sympathique.

Here’s another site with a more comprehensive list of the verbs that take stress pronouns. I only listed the main ones on my page. http://blognicefrench.blogspot.com/2013/05/micro-lecon-n55-liste-des-verbes-ou.html?spref=tw

Not all sentences have every pronoun  listed.  But the idea is to know which go in which order in case you have more than one pronoun.  A helpful thing would be to memorize two or three phrases that have more than one pronoun in them so that you will always remember which go in which order.  For those of you in my class, you have your “cheat sheet” notecards.  Use them!!

Je te les envoie – I’m sending them to you.
Je les lui donne.  –  I’m giving them to him
Il n’y en a plus – There isn’t any more of it/them
Je vais y aller – I’m going there.
J’y suis allé – I went there.

1.  For one verb tenses, this is the order of the pronouns between the subject and the verb.

Nous leur racontons l’histoire.  We’re telling the story to them.
Nous la racontons aux enfants. We’re telling it to the children.
Tu m’aides. You are helping me.
Ils vous offrent les fleurs . They are offering the flowers to you.
Ils vous les offrent. They are offering them to you.

2.  For 2 verb sentences, you place the pronoun in front of the verb that affects it, which ends up being the 2nd verb / infinitive.

Je veux y aller.
Tu dois le faire.
Il va en acheter.

For the composed tenses (with an auxiliary verb and a past participle – passé composé, plus que parfait, etc.)

*In these tenses there are a few minor details that I haven’t included here, but this is the word order.
Je l’ai acheté – I bought it
Je te les ai données – I gave them to you
Ils les y ont vendus – They sold them there

** NOTE – for negative sentences in passé composé, make sure to double check the placement of the pas / negative words (plus, jamais, pas encore, personne, que, etc.)

Reflexive Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Replace people or objects

Indirect Object Pronouns

replace à people

When making comparisons, one is saying that something or someone is more, less, or as (an adjective) as another, or compares how someone does an action, using an adverb.  We use the same construction in French.
The construction is

 She runs faster (more fast) than Fred.  Elle court plus rapidement que Fred.
You are working as hard as Fred. Tu travailles aussi dur que Fred.
This saleslady is nicer than the other saleslady. Cette vendeuse est plus sympathique que l’autre vendeuse.
Une Volkswagen est moins chère qu’une Porsche.  A VW is less expensive than a Porsche

*good and bad change forms in French like they do in English.

Ils trouvent que le pain français est meilleur que le pain amèricain.
Les fruits et les légumes sont meilleurs pour la santé que les pâtisseries?

One uses the superlative to single out one item from the group and compare it to all the others. One forms the superlative in French by using le, la, or les and plus or moins with the adjective.
Cette robe est la plus jolie de la boutique. This dress is the prettiest of the store.
Robert est le plus intelligent de la classe. Robert is the smartest in the class.
Fred et Oscar sont les plus amusants de tous les élèves. Fred and Oscar are the funniest of all the students.

Some – an unspecified quantity of something =  du, de la, de l’, and des

part of something masculine – du
part of something feminine – de la
part of something that starts with a vowel – de l’
some plural – des

some cake – du gâteau some ham – du jambon
some jam – de la confiture some ice cream – de la glace
some orange – de l’orange some onion – de l’oignon
some grapes – des raisins some strawberries – des fraises

Fixed quantities are diffferent. There is no article for the noun, so the ‘de’ stays ‘de’.
beaucoup de – a lot of, much, many
plus de – more
moins de – less
pas de – not any
trop de – too much
assez de – enough
peu de – few, a little bit of
tant de – so many, so much
pas mal de – a lot of
une tasse de – a cup of
un tas de – a pile of
un morceau de – a small piece of
un panier de – a basket of
un verre de – a glass of
une bouteille de – a bottle of
un bol de – a bowl of
une part de – a piece of, a part of
un morceau de – a small piece of
une lamelle de – a super thin slice, a sliver
une boîte de – a can of
une boîte de – a box of
un pot de – a jar of
une tranche de – a slice of
une cannette de – a can of (Coke, beer)

A glass of water – un verre d’eau
a jar of jam – un pot de confiture
a cup of tea – une tasse de thé
a bowl of soup – un bol de soupe
more coffee – plus de café
too much candy – trop de bonbons

You have learned that to negate a sentence, you put ‘ne … pas’ around a verb. Here are the notes to say ‘nothing’, ‘no one’, ‘only’, ‘no more’ / ‘not any more’, ‘never’, ‘not yet’, and ‘barely’.

nothing – ne verb rien
only – ne verb que
no more, not any more – ne verb plus
never – ne verb jamais
not yet – ne verb pas encore
not a single – ne verb aucun(e)
not (emphatic) – ne verb point
no one – ne verb personne
*no one as a subject is done – personne ne verb …*

Examples
Qu’est-ce que tu fais? Je ne fais rien – What are you doing? I’m not doing anything / I’m doing nothing.
Je n’ai rien à faire – I have nothing to do
Elle n’achète rien – She’s not buying anything / She’s buying nothing

Tu ne parles jamais – You never speak
Nous n’allons jamais au cinéma – We never go to the cinema

Je ne travaille plus – I’m not working anymore
Je n’ai plus de bananes – I have no more bananas / I don’t have any more bananas
Il n’y a plus de temps – There is no time left / There is no more time
Je n’ai aucune idée – I have no idea

Elle ne nettoie que sa chambre – She’s only cleaning her room.
Nous n’avons que les bananes – We only have bananas.

Je ne vois personne – I don’t see anyone / I see no one
Elle n’écoute personne – She doesn’t listen to anyone / She listens to no one
OR – no one as a subject …
Personne n’est là – No one is there
Personne n’achète les tee-shirts – No one is buying the tee-shirts