Leur et les

Question

Hi everyone, I have a question. I am struggling with the les and the leur.

Why is it "les" if it is "Je les ai aidés à déménager", but "Les enfants vont au bord de le mer; je leur ai acheté des vêtements d'été."

Thank you in advance.

Accepted Answer

Hi Noel,
These are called 'object pronouns', some are direct ( le, la, les) and some indirect ( lui, leur).
Their use depends on the verbs they refer to. 
If you take a look a the following Kwiziq page on object pronouns and the links to 'direct object pronouns' and 'indirect object pronouns' included in it, you will have a better understanding of their use -
/revision/glossary/pronoun-type/french-object-pronouns
Hope this helps!

Answer

Hi Noel,Why is it "les" if it is "Je les ai aidés à déménager", but "Les enfants vont au bord de le mer; je leur ai acheté des vêtements d'été."In the first sentence the past participle should be written "aidé" (no "s") and "les" is a direct object pronoun. In the second sentence "leur" is an indirect object pronoun in the sense of buying the clothes "for" (preposition) them.Does this help?Jim

Answer

@ Jim: I believe "je les ai aidés" (with -s) is correct. The direct object (les) precedes the participle, which, in this case, needs to match the COD in gender and number.

Answer

Absolutely correct Chris. I missed the fact that the direct object is placed before the verb and so the past participle needs to concur and should be written "aidés"

Thanks for pointing that out.

Jim

Answer

Hi Jim,

that does make sense, thank you. Though, if you don't mind, I have another question.

If we were to follow that logic, why would this sentence be "Je l'attend dans le parc" instead of "Je lui attend dans le parc"? After all, wouldn't it be "I waited in the park for her."

Thank you for your help,

Noel

Answer

Remember preposition use is different in French “attendre qqn” - waiting for someone - no preposition in French, direct object.

Attendre quelqu'un vs s'attendre à quelque chose = to wait vs to expect in French%252Fsearch%253Fs%253DAttendre%252Bquelqu%2525E2%252580%252599un%252B

It is different with s’attendre à, as per the lesson.