Indirect-object pronouns (lui / leur)
Summary
Indirect-object pronouns replace "à + a person": lui means "to him/her", leur means "to them", and both stand before the verb.
Explanation
When a verb introduces a person with the preposition à — parler à, donner à, téléphoner à, écrire à, répondre à — you can replace that person with an indirect-object pronoun. The full set is me (to me), te (to you), lui (to him / to her), nous (to us), vous (to you), leur (to them). So Je parle à Marie becomes Je lui parle.
Like all object pronouns, these come immediately before the conjugated verb (or before the infinitive that governs them): Je leur téléphone, Je vais leur téléphoner, Je leur ai téléphoné. In negation, ne wraps the pronoun + verb block: Je ne lui parle pas.
Two forms cause trouble. lui is gender-neutral in the singular — the same word covers "to him" and "to her", so context tells you which. leur as a pronoun is invariable and never takes -s; do not confuse it with the possessive adjective leurs (leurs amis = their friends). Compare Je leur parle (I speak to them) with leurs livres (their books).
Indirect pronouns are not the same as direct-object pronouns. The test is the preposition: if the verb links to the person with à, use lui / leur; if it links directly with no preposition (voir quelqu'un, aimer quelqu'un), use the direct le / la / les. A few verbs surprise English speakers: téléphoner à quelqu'un and répondre à quelqu'un are indirect, while attendre quelqu'un and écouter quelqu'un are direct.
Agreement is simpler here than with direct objects: a past participle never agrees with a preceding indirect object. Write Elle leur a parlé and Je lui ai écrit — no -s, no -e — because the agreement rule applies only to a preceding direct object, not an indirect one.
Rule of thumb: spot the à + person, drop both the preposition and the noun, and put lui (singular) or leur (plural) just before the verb. Keep leur without -s, and never make the participle agree with it.
Examples
J'ai téléphoné à mes parents : je leur ai tout expliqué. — I phoned my parents: I explained everything to them. (The participe passé expliqué does not agree with the indirect leur.)
Tu écris à ton frère ? Oui, je lui écris ce soir. — Are you writing to your brother? Yes, I'm writing to him tonight. (lui covers both "to him" and "to her".)
Je ne leur parle pas en ce moment. — I'm not speaking to them at the moment. (ne … pas wraps the pronoun + verb.)
Ce sont leurs livres, mais je vais leur rendre demain. — These are their books, but I'll give them back tomorrow. (leurs (with -s) is the possessive; leur (no -s) is the pronoun.)
Donne-leur la clé. — Give them the key. (In an affirmative command the pronoun follows the verb with a hyphen.)
Common mistakes
Je le téléphone ce soir.
Je lui téléphone ce soir.
téléphoner is constructed with à (téléphoner à quelqu'un), so the person it refers to must be replaced with the indirect object pronoun lui (or leur), never with the direct object pronoun le/la.
Prerequisites
Related rules
pronounsindirect-objectword-order