French conjugation explanation
Subject pronouns and object pronouns
<p>The pronouns <span style="font-style: italic;">nous</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">vous</span> are common sources of confusion because they can have three different roles in a sentence:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the <strong class="green_emphasis">subject pronoun</strong> (<span style="font-style: italic;">pronom sujet</span>), which is the pronoun that performs the action. <strong>The verb is always conjugated according to the subject of the sentence</strong>:</p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="green_emphasis">Nous</span> <strong>avons</strong> un travail important à faire ici. (<span style="font-style: italic;">We have an important job to do here.</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="green_emphasis">Vous</span> <strong>devez</strong> être amical avec vos voisins. (<span style="font-style: italic;">You must be friendly with your neighbors.</span>)</div>
<li>
<p>the <strong class="brown_emphasis">direct object pronoun</strong> (<span style="font-style: italic;">pronom objet direct</span>), which is the recipient of the action and is attached to the verb directly, without a preposition. We can find the direct object of a verb by asking the questions <strong style="font-style: italic; white-space: nowrap;">quoi ?</strong> or <strong style="font-style: italic; white-space: nowrap;">qui ?</strong>:</p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="green_emphasis">Elles</span> <span class="brown_emphasis">nous</span> <strong>font</strong> toujours faire ça. (<span style="font-style: italic;">They always make us do this.</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(<strong>Qui</strong> font-elles toujours faire ça ?)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="green_emphasis">Je</span> ne <span class="brown_emphasis">vous</span> <strong>combats</strong> pas. (<span style="font-style: italic;">I am not fighting you.</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(<strong>Qui</strong> je ne combats pas ?)</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>the <strong class="red_emphasis">indirect object pronoun</strong> (<span style="font-style: italic;">pronom objet indirect</span>), which is also the recipient of the action, but the verb it's attached to is controlled by the preposition <strong>à</strong>: </p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="green_emphasis">Les abeilles</span> <span class="red_emphasis">nous</span> <strong>fournissent</strong> du miel. (<span style="font-style: italic;">The bees provide us with honey.</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(<strong>fournir</strong> quelque chose <strong>à quelqu'un</strong> → <strong>À qui</strong> les abeilles fournissent-elles du miel ?)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence"><span class="green_emphasis">Mon frère</span> <span class="red_emphasis">vous</span> <strong>envoie</strong> ses chaleureuses salutations. (<span style="font-style: italic;">My brother sends you his warmest greetings.</span>)</div>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">(<strong>envoyer</strong> quelque chose <strong>à quelqu'un</strong> → <strong>À qui</strong> mon frère envoie-t-il ses chaleureuses salutations ?)</div>
</li>
</ul>