les
/lɛ/accusative
In French, the English word "them" is expressed using the third person plural pronouns les or leur.
Meaning: third personal plural pronoun used after a preposition or as the object of a verb (pron)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| les | /lɛ/ /lɛ.z‿/ |
accusative |
| leur | /lœʁ/ | dative |
These pronouns are used to represent a third-person plural group as the object of a verb or following a preposition.
Which one should you use?
The choice between the two forms depends on whether the pronoun is a direct or indirect object. Use les when "them" is the direct object of the verb, such as in "I see them". Use leur when "them" functions as an indirect object, meaning "to them", such as in "I speak to them".
How does it change in a sentence?
When using les as a direct object with a past tense verb (passé composé), the past participle must agree in gender and number with the object being referred to. In contrast, the indirect object pronoun leur is invariable and does not change to leurs in the plural.
How do you pronounce it?
/lɛ/
Did you know?
- While leur means 'them' as an indirect object, it also means 'their' when used as a possessive adjective before a noun. These two functions look identical in writing but perform completely different grammatical roles.
- In very formal or literary French, the pronoun les can be replaced by eux or elles after a preposition. This creates a distinction between the 'object' form and the 'disjunctive' form of 'them'.
- The word leur is an outlier among French possessives because it is the only one that does not have a separate feminine form. This was caused by an analogy with words like notre and votre during the Middle French period.
Examples in context
- Tu les as ?Do you have them?Tatoeba #5317050 by Aiji, translation #2648848 by CK
- Tu les vois ?Can you see them?Tatoeba #8665526 by Micsmithel, translation #1886246 by CK
- Je les ai vus.I saw them.Tatoeba #2527548 by sacredceltic, translation #2247401 by CK
- Je les ai invités à la réunion.I invited them to the meeting.
- Je leur ai donné les clés de la maison.I gave them the keys to the house.
- Je les ai vus hier au parc.I saw them yesterday in the park.
- Je leur ai dit la vérité.I told them the truth.
- Les voisins, je les ai aidés à déménager.I helped the neighbors move.
- 2535 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Lucas are in a kitchen looking for some apples.
- EmmaOù sont les pommes ?Where are the apples?
- LucasJe les vois sur la table.I see them on the table.
- EmmaEst-ce que tu les veux ?Do you want them?
- LucasOui, je les prends.Yes, I'm taking them.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “them” translations and entries les, leur, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries les, leur, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
