Concepto nuevo
“I it see”
To avoid repeating a noun, French swaps it for a pronoun — and, unlike English, puts the pronoun before the verb. I see it comes out as I it see: Je le vois.
These are direct object pronouns: they replace the person or thing the verb acts on directly, with no little word like à in between.
| Full noun | With a pronoun |
|---|---|
| Je regarde le film. | Je le regarde. — I'm watching it. |
| Je cherche la clé. | Je la cherche. — I'm looking for it. |
| Tu manges les croissants ? | Tu les manges ? — Are you eating them? |
| Il aime Marina. | Il **l'**aime. — He loves her. |
- le for a masculine noun, la for a feminine one, les for any plural.
- Before a vowel or silent h, le and la shrink to l': je l'aime.
- The gender comes from the French noun, not from English it: la clé → la, le portefeuille → le. And le can mean him as well as it.