problem with indirect and direct objects

I am having difficulty with the following:

Il a écouté Marie et Alice. Il les a écoutées. (direct object in passé composé agrees in gender and number)

BUT: Il a téléphoné à Paul et moi. Il nous a téléphoné. (preceding indirect object does not take agreement)

My question is this, why is the second example an indirect object?? Is it the fact that the verb uses a preposition in the first example?
To me it seems they are similar actions, but according to this worksheet I have this is not the case!
I'm really confused. Thanks for any explanation, Pam

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on October 25, 2009 at 6:48pm

Hi Pam--

Yes, essentially what signals that this is a "direct object" is the presence of the à.

Why is there an à? Well, essentially because téléphoner in French works more like the verb read in English.

So in English for example, you can say:

he read the message
he read the message to Bob
he read to Bob

but you can't say ~~he read Bob~~.

In French, téléphoner is similar-- you can say:

il a téléphoné le message
il a téléphoné le message à Marie
il a téléphoné à Marie

but you can't say ~~Il a téléphoné Marie~~.

Why do some verbs work this way while others just take the person as the direct object (e.g. Il a appelé Marie). Well, to some extent they "just do".

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Pamela Kingfisher on October 25, 2009 at 7:35pm

Thank you Neil! You are a GREAT teacher. I GET IT!! Thank you so much, Pam

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on October 25, 2009 at 8:00pm

Thanks Pam -- and pardon the slight typo I've just seen-- obviously the à signals an INDIRECT object.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lawrence Whiffin on November 1, 2009 at 11:53am

Neil, I agree with your comments and don't wish to be over fussy, but shouldn't Pamela have said in her second sentence not "Il a téléphoné à Paul et moi." but "Il a téléphoné à Paul et à moi."?
Laurie

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Frank on November 1, 2009 at 12:09pm

Hi Lawrence,

Both would be perfectly correct.

Avoid the repetition of "à" is a way to sound a bit more formal. This form is what we would write, while your proposal is what we'd say in a real speech, although removing the second "à" would also be acceptable in real speech.