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thorn wharfBOT Jan 16, 2025, 4:12 AM

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Please be patient

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winter dune Jan 16, 2025, 4:17 AM

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yes, it does work, although it's not a good replacement for the original sentence
French uses object pronouns to replace objects in order to shorten them (objects being what the verb is acting on)

j'envoie une lettre => je __l'__envoie (l' is replacing the direct object "une lettre")
j'envoie une lettre en France => j'y envoie une lettre (y is replacing the place "en France")

you could thus have
j'envoie une lettre en France => je l'y envoie (replacing both)

to replace the indirect object "à mes parents", you have to use "leur"
j'envoie une lettre à mes parents => je leur envoie une lettre => je la leur envoie

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:18 AM

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While « l'y » can be a valid sentence, it can't be in this sentence because « y » can't be used for living things

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You'd have to write « Je vais la leur envoyer »

rotund aspen Jan 16, 2025, 4:19 AM

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merci a vous !

winter dune Jan 16, 2025, 4:25 AM

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rotund aspen merci a vous !

object pronouns can be a bit hard to grasp
I'm aware my explanation might not have dissipated all your doubts, so feel free to ask followup questions

rotund aspen Jan 16, 2025, 4:27 AM

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I appreciate it. Sometimes is very intuitive, sometimes it isn't. I generally try to think "verb + que/qui - direct" and "verb + a que/qui" is coi

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Going back to your first example - "Ils ont montré les photos à leurs amis." becomes "Ils les leur ont montrées."

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:29 AM

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rotund aspen Going back to your first example - "Ils ont montré les photos à leurs amis." bec...

Yup!

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:30 AM

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rotund aspen I appreciate it. Sometimes is very intuitive, sometimes it isn't. I generally tr...

That’s actually its very definition

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An indirect object is an object that is preceded or governed by a preposition

rotund aspen Jan 16, 2025, 4:30 AM

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sometimes de throws me off for some reason, and I struggle with in the moment of speaking

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:30 AM

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Je pense à Louise
Nous nous inquiétons du problème
Il comptait sur moi
Elle se bat contre lui
Etc = all indirect

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The difference being that not all indirect objects have an object pronoun equivalent

winter dune Jan 16, 2025, 4:34 AM

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il joue à un jeu => il y joue (indirect pronoun with à => y)
il joue de la guitare => il en joue (indirect pronoun with de => en)
il joue la montre => il la joue (direct pronoun => le/la/les)

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:34 AM

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lui/leur works for indirect objects under the preposition « à » that are living:
« à Louise, à mes parents »

y works for indirect objects under the preposition « à » that are not living or for other prepositions denoting location
« au problème, dans le parc »

en works for indirect objects under the preposition « de » that are not living
« du problème »

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Actually I should just put full sentences, hold on

rotund aspen Jan 16, 2025, 4:36 AM

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i appreciate this y'all

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reckon you can help me with this one?

le guide dont/que je vous ai parlé de

I assume you are going to choose dont here because parler is parle de? Or, am I wrong, and is it because of avoir?

winter dune Jan 16, 2025, 4:38 AM

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that's right, you have to pick "dont" because it's parler de

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je vous ai parlé du guide => le guide dont je vous ai parlé

rotund aspen Jan 16, 2025, 4:39 AM

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kinda guessed on that one but I thought that was why

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thank you for helping a tired, middle aged dude tonight 🙂

winter dune Jan 16, 2025, 4:40 AM

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"dont" helps pinpointing something based on information that takes the shape of [additional information "de" what you're talking about]
[what you're talking about "dont" additional information]

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ex:
le père de cette fille est boulanger. (this girl's father is a bread baker)
la fille dont le père est boulanger veut devenir chanteuse. (the girl whose father is a bread baker wants to become a singer)

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:43 AM

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gritty cedar lui/leur works for indirect objects under the preposition « à » that are living:...

Je parle à Louise -> Je lui parle
Je parle à mes parents -> Je leur parle

Je pense au problème -> J'y pense
Je vais dans le parc -> J'y vais

Je m'occupe du problème -> Je m'en occupe
Je parle du problème -> J'en parle

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Sorry, had a tea brewing

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:44 AM

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rotund aspen kinda guessed on that one but I thought that was why

You just have to look at the latest verb

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« C'est le problème dont je vais parler »
« C'est le problème dont j'ai envie de parler »
« C'est le problème dont je dois parler »
« C'est le problème dont je choisis de parler »

rotund aspen Jan 16, 2025, 4:45 AM

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thanks man, crazy you know so much at b2

gritty cedar Jan 16, 2025, 4:45 AM

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All four use « dont » because the second clause is:
« … je vais parler du problème »
« … j'ai envie de parler du problème »
« … je dois parler du problème »
« … je choisis de parler du problème »

fading crater Jan 16, 2025, 11:42 AM

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funnily enough my father (from Franche-Comté doesn't ever use lui as an indirect object pronoun

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instead he uses y for animate and inanimate objects

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I don't know how frequent/region specific it is though

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