Concept Map — COD vs COI pronouns

The single choice that makes spoken French flow instead of repeating nouns.
le/la/les vs lui/leur is decided by one test on the verb: does the
action land directly on the thing, or does it pass through à?

Anchor

An object pronoun replaces a noun you've already mentioned so you don't repeat it
(Tu vois Paul ? — Oui, je le vois.). French splits them by the verb's
grammar, not the English translation:

• COD (complément d'objet direct) — the verb hits the object with no
  preposition: le / la / l' / les. Voir qqn → je le vois.
• COI (complément d'objet indirect) — the verb reaches the object through
  à (almost always a person): lui (sing.) / leur (plur.).
  Parler à qqn → je lui parle.
• me / te / nous / vous are the same form for both jobs — only the
  3rd person forces you to choose. That's where errors live.

Prerequisites

• [[Verb-Constructions-Transitive]] (create) — you must know whether a verb is
  direct (regarder qqch) or takes à (téléphoner à qqn). This is the
  whole game; the pronoun just reports the verb's construction.
• [[Passe-Compose-Formation]] (create) — needed for the agreement rule below
  (preceding direct object → participle agreement). Ties back to the
  [[plus-que-parfait]] / past-tense cluster.

The Contrast

Pick by the verb's construction, not the English preposition:

Cue / Function	COD le/la/les	COI lui/leur
Verb takes object directly (no à)	Je le connais. (connaître qqn)	—
Verb reaches a person via à	—	Je lui parle. (parler à qqn)
"to give/say/send/show to someone"	the thing is COD	the person is COI: Je lui donne le livre.
Replaces a person and a thing	le livre → je le donne	à Marie → je lui donne

The high-value trap — verbs whose construction differs from English:

Direct in French (→ le/la/les)	Indirect in French, à (→ lui/leur)
regarder, écouter, attendre, chercher, payer (no preposition!)	téléphoner à, parler à, répondre à, demander à, dire à, obéir à, plaire à
Je l'attends. (I wait for her — no "for")	Je lui téléphone. (I phone her — French adds à)

Companion Language Points

• Placement: the pronoun sits before the conjugated verb
  (je te vois), or before the infinitif it belongs to
  (je vais te voir, je veux le faire). In the affirmative
  imperative only, it moves after with a hyphen and me→moi/te→toi:
  Regarde-le ! Donne-lui ! Dis-moi ! (but negative imperative goes
  back to normal: Ne le regarde pas.).
• Past-participle agreement — the bridge to the past-tense cluster: a
  participle agrees with a preceding direct object (COD), never with a COI:
  • Les fleurs ? Je les ai achetées. (COD before verb → agreement)
  • Marie ? Je lui ai parlé. (COI → no agreement)
    This is exactly the agreement engine from [[plus-que-parfait]], now triggered
    by a pronoun instead of an être-verb.
• [[Pronoun-Order]] (create) — when two pronouns stack:
  me te se nous vous ▸ le la les ▸ lui leur ▸ y ▸ en
  (Je le lui donne. / Il m'en a parlé.).

Fixed Expressions

French	Use
Je t'aime.	COD te — the most-used object pronoun in French.
Je le sais. / Je ne le sais pas.	le standing in for a whole idea ("I know (it)").
Dis-moi tout.	imperative + stressed moi.
Ça lui plaît.	plaire à qqn → COI (lit. "it pleases to him").
Je lui ai dit que…	reporting speech — dire à qqn is always COI.

What Completes It / Study Next

• [[Y-En-Pronouns]] (create) — the other two object pronouns: y replaces
  à + thing/place (J'y pense, J'y vais), en replaces
  de + thing / a partitive / a quantity (J'en veux, J'en ai deux).
  They complete the object-pronoun set; the natural next dot.
• [[Pronoun-Order]] (create) — the rules for combining all five. Strong
  candidate for the following /french-expand run.
• Drill direction: answer questions without repeating the noun — that forced
  substitution is what turns the rule into reflex.

Linked Sources

Source	Note	Use For
Companion	[[plus-que-parfait]]	the past-participle agreement engine the COD rule plugs into.
Topic Hub	[[Languages/French/Topic Hubs/restaurant-cafe-commander|Restaurant / commander]]	"je le prends / je vais le prendre" ordering reflexes.
Topic Hub	[[Languages/French/Topic Hubs/shopping-faire-les-courses|Shopping / faire les courses]]	"je les achète / il m'en faut deux" substitution practice.
YouTube lesson	[[Languages/French/Youtube Lessons/2026-06-12-youtube-camille-reporter-sacha-strip-teaseuse|Camille — Sacha]]	object-pronoun-dense natural speech in the wild.
Grammar Wiki	[[Languages/French/Grammar-Wiki/README|Grammar Wiki]]	home for the verb-construction note this map depends on.

Production Drill

Scene: Someone asks you 6 quick questions; answer each without repeating the
noun, out loud.

Force in one round:

• one COD answer (— Tu as vu le film ? — Oui, je l'ai vu.) with correct
  participle agreement (— Et les photos ? — Je les ai vues.);
• one COI answer (— Tu as parlé à Marie ? — Oui, je lui ai parlé. — no agreement);
• one imperative (Donne-le-moi !);
• one "tricky verb" (— Tu attends Paul ? — Oui, je l'attends. not lui).

Mini self-test (answer without looking):

1. "I'm waiting for her." → ?
2. "I'm phoning him." → ?
3. "The flowers? I bought them." → ?
4. "Marie? I spoke to her." → ?
5. "Give it to me!" → ?

Answers

1. Je l'attends. (attendre = direct → COD, no "for")
2. Je lui téléphone. (téléphoner à → COI)
3. Les fleurs ? Je les ai achetées. (preceding COD → participle agrees)
4. Marie ? Je lui ai parlé. (parler à → COI, no agreement)
5. Donne-le-moi ! (affirmative imperative: COD before COI, me→moi)

Anki Candidates

Pushed to Anki deck Claude French YouTube::Grammar (10 cards, 2026-06-30; tags: concept-map, cod-coi-pronouns, french-expand):

• Je l'attends. — attendre is DIRECT → COD (no "for")
• Je lui téléphone. — téléphoner à qqn → COI
• Les fleurs ? Je les ai achetées. — preceding COD → past participle agrees
• Marie ? Je lui ai parlé. — COI → no participle agreement
• Donne-le-moi ! — affirmative imperative: pronoun after, me→moi
• COD le/la/les vs COI lui/leur — decided by whether the verb takes à
• Pronoun order: me te se nous vous ▸ le la les ▸ lui leur ▸ y ▸ en
• +3 more (placement rule, direct-vs-à verb lists) — see TSV backup