CEFR B2
What you will learn
- Replace two complements while preserving their functions and governing verb.
- Adapt pronoun position, forms and, where needed, relative order when changing affirmative commands into negative ones.
Before you start
- Have studied the stated prerequisites and reconstruct who acts before choosing a form.
The idea
Replace two complements while preserving their functions and governing verb.
In declaratives the order is me/te/se/nous/vous, le/la/les, lui/leur, y, en. Not every slot is needed. In Je le lui présente, le replaces the item presented and lui its recipient; establish functions before ordering.
Affirmative commands place pronouns after the verb with hyphens: Donne-le-moi, Donnez-les-leur. Me and te become moi and toi, but elide before en: Donne-m’en. Negative commands restore preverbal order: Ne me le donne pas, Ne m’en donne pas.
With an infinitive, place the cluster before the verb governing the complements: Je vais le lui envoyer. Do not move lui forward merely because a finite verb appears. A stressed pronoun after a preposition has another role: Je compte sur elle does not become Je lui compte.
Form and relation
| French case | What to preserve |
|---|---|
| Présente-le-moi. | Affirmative postverbal order. |
| Ne me le présente pas. | Negative preverbal order. |
How it sounds
- Je vais les leur transmettre.Documents are direct objects; the plural recipient is indirect.
- Donne-m’en deux. → Ne m’en donne pas.En keeps the final position in the cluster.
Replace two complements while preserving their functions and governing verb.Another context
Vous devez envoyer les plans aux architectes demain. Remplacez les deux groupes sans changer le destinataire ni déplacer les pronoms devant devez.
« Je compte sur Maëlle et je lui confie la clé. » Quelle reprise conserve la différence entre compter sur et confier à ?
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Vous devez les leur envoyer demain. — This alternative is appropriate: «Vous devez les leur envoyer demain.». Envoyer governs both complements; les precedes leur and leur keeps plural recipients.
Envoyer governs both complements; les precedes leur and leur keeps plural recipients.
Answer: Je compte sur elle et je la lui confie. — This alternative is appropriate: «Je compte sur elle et je la lui confie.». Sur requires stressed elle; confier la clé à Maëlle gives la lui in that order.
Sur requires stressed elle; confier la clé à Maëlle gives la lui in that order.
Adapt pronoun position, forms and, where needed, relative order when changing affirmative commands into negative ones.Another context
Transformez « Donne-le-moi » en interdiction, en gardant le même objet et le même destinataire.
Il reste des dossiers ; vous en voulez quatre pour vous-même. Quelle demande affirmative exprime à la fois la quantité et le destinataire ?
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Ne me le donne pas. — This alternative is appropriate: «Ne me le donne pas.». Negation restores me le before donne; lui would change the recipient.
Negation restores me le before donne; lui would change the recipient.
Answer: Donne-m’en quatre. — This alternative is appropriate: «Donne-m’en quatre.». En refers to dossiers and keeps quatre; me elides in m’en. Le or lui change quantity or recipient.
En refers to dossiers and keeps quatre; me elides in m’en. Le or lui change quantity or recipient.
When it doesn't hold
What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.
- Affirmative postverbal order.Présente-le-moi.
- Negative preverbal order.Ne me le présente pas.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Je vais lui le transmettre.
Right Je vais le lui transmettre.
English puts the recipient after the verb; French le lui comes before the governing infinitive.
Combine both decisions
Vous prêtez le livre à Noé. Écrivez un ordre affirmatif adressé à tu puis l’interdiction correspondante, en remplaçant les deux compléments.
Answer available without interaction
- Provide a command and its prohibition addressed to the requested person.
- Replace both complements without changing the object or recipient.
- Check verb inflection, pronoun position and graphic linking in each polarity.
Answer: Prête-le-lui. / Ne le lui prête pas.
The book gives le and Noé gives lui. With lui the relative order le lui stays, but position and hyphens change.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- Editorial selection for grammatical control, reformulation and precision. B2.1/B2.2 are internal subdivisions; the CEFR does not prescribe this structure list by school year. · Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Companion Volume
Continue along this corridor
Practise this: Stressed pronouns and pronoun orderPronominal verbs: classes, auxiliary and participle agreementLe, la, les, lui or leur: object and positionEn and y: replacing quantities, de, à and places