Discuss and learn French.
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
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
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on -
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 sayhe 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 sayIl 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".
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Permalink Reply by Pamela Kingfisher on -
Thank you Neil! You are a GREAT teacher. I GET IT!! Thank you so much, Pam
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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on
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Thanks Pam -- and pardon the slight typo I've just seen-- obviously the à signals an INDIRECT object.
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Permalink Reply by Lawrence Whiffin on -
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
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Permalink Reply by Frank on -
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.
© 2010 Created by Neil Coffey.
