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'THEM' IN FRENCH? How to say

Quick question, how do you say 'it transforms/turns them into monsters' in French? I am confused about the 'them' part. Thanks in advance
Il les transforme en monstres.

There is no single way of translating 'them' into French. There are three I can think of off the top of my head:

Direct object pronoun (accusative): il les voit - he sees them
Indirect object pronoun (dative): il leur parle - he talks to them
Disjunctive: il va avec eux - he goes with them
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by rockrunride
Il les transforme en des monstres.

There is no single way of translating 'them' into French. There are three I can think of off the top of my head:

Direct object pronoun: il les voit - he sees them
Indirect object pronoun: il leur parle - he talks to them
Disjunctive: il va avec eux - he goes with them


How do you learn the distintions between those words?

They and them are two words that I can never quite manage to understand in french.

Thanks in advance
Original post by BullViagra
How do you learn the distintions between those words?

They and them are two words that I can never quite manage to understand in french.

Thanks in advance


Note I initially made an error in the translation - I don't think there's a "des" in the sentence.

'They' is a subject pronoun in English, ie used when 'they' is the subject of the sentence or statement. Ils/elles in French. The distinction between 'they' and 'them' is the same in English as it is in French.

'Them' is an object pronoun, used in three ways: direct (when a verb acts directly on something - 'I see them'), indirect (when a verb requires 'to' to act on it - 'I talk to them') and disjunctive (used alone and after prepositions - 'Them, they've got something I don't know about' or 'I go with them').

No distinction is made in English between the three ways of expressing 'them', but there is in French. Les (direct), leur (indirect), eux (disjunctive).
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 4
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sashley
OP
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I love languages but they really can be mind boggling at times, I would love to be fluent in French but I am no where near! Im studying AS level French and I feel I can just about get by however there is a lot of gaps in my knowledge, even the basics I don't feel competent. Anyhow, thanks for explaining the above!
Original post by rockrunride
Direct object pronoun (accusative): il les voit - he sees them
Indirect object pronoun (dative): il leur parle - he talks to them
Disjunctive: il va avec eux - he goes with them


Building on this. You use:

'les' when it's direct, so when the verb is being done on the object.

Eg I have 4 children. Have you seen them? J'ai quatre enfants, les avez-vous vus?

'leur' is indirect, so you'd use it when the verb has the preposition à after it. As it's 'to someone'.

Eg I don't have the books. I gave it to them. Je n'ai pas les livres, je les leur ai donné.

See how the indirect has 'to' in it.

And disjunctive is after a preposition I'd say. Eg for them = pour eux
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by L'Evil Fish
Eg I have 4 children. Have you seen them? J'ai quatre enfants, avez-vous les vu?


Just watch your word order too: object pronouns always go before the verb. So for the above example, you need to say:
Les avez-vous vus?

You now also have the direct object, les, coming in front of the verb, so the past participle has to agree with it - hence the -s on vus.
Original post by Anna Schoon
Just watch your word order too: object pronouns always go before the verb. So for the above example, you need to say:
Les avez-vous vus?

You now also have the direct object, les, coming in front of the verb, so the past participle has to agree with it - hence the -s on vus.


Oh, so is

I bought them

Je les ai achetés?

If then was masculine
Being french, I'm afraid I can't really explain how it works, however:
If you are saying "it", that would translate as "cela" (formal) or "ca" (more colloquial): "cela les a transformé en monstres".
And it is "Les avez-vous vus" :smile:
Original post by L'Evil Fish
Oh, so is

I bought them

Je les ai achetés?

If then was masculine

Yes :smile:
Original post by FlyingUnicorn
Yes :smile:


I thought it was the case, but I remember my teacher at GCSE changing it so I always thought you didn't agree it.

Damn teacher :shakecane:
Reply 11
Avatar for thisworked
thisworked
Original post by L'Evil Fish
Building on this. You use:


Eg I have 4 children. Have you seen them? J'ai quatre enfants, avez-vous les vu?


Eg I don't have the books. I gave it to them. Je n'ai pas les livres, je leur ai donné.





Sorry but these are wrong...

It's "J'ai quatre enfants, les avez-vous vu?"
and
"Je n'ai pas les livres, je les leur ai donné" (Although you rarely phrase it this way)
Original post by thisworked
Sorry but these are wrong...

It's "J'ai quatre enfants, les avez-vous vu?"
and
"Je n'ai pas les livres, je les leur ai donné" (Although you rarely phrase it this way)


Yeah I realised I omitted the books as well, I was meant to say I gave them the books
Reply 13
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thisworked
Original post by L'Evil Fish
Yeah I realised I omitted the books as well, I was meant to say I gave them the books



It happens, besides it sounds weird with the "les".
Original post by thisworked
It happens, besides it sounds weird with the "les".


Yeah, it does look weird to have multiple objects.

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