Object pronouns come before the verb

In French, object pronouns are 'clitics,' meaning they must be attached to a verb. The main object pronouns are: Direct (le, la, les), Indirect (lui, leur), Reflexive/Object (me, te, se, nous, vous), and Adverbial (y, en). Note that me, te, se, le, and la drop their vowel and become m', t', s', and l' before a vowel or mute 'h' (a process called elision).

1. Simple Tenses: In simple tenses (like the present, imperfect, or future), the pronoun goes right before the verb, except in affirmative commands.
Example: Je t'appelle. (I am calling you.)

2. Compound Tenses: In tenses like the passé composé, the pronoun precedes the auxiliary verb (avoir or être).
Note: You must apply past participle agreement when a direct object pronoun comes before the verb, except for the pronoun en, which never triggers agreement.
Example: Je l'ai vue. (I saw her.) / J'en ai mangé. (I ate some.)

3. Dual-Verb Constructions: In most dual-verb structures, such as aller + infinitive or vouloir + infinitive, the pronoun goes before the infinitive.
Example: Je vais le faire. (I am going to do it.)
Note: In the faire causative construction, the pronoun precedes the conjugated verb instead (e.g., Je le fais manger - I make him eat). With verbs of perception (voir, entendre, écouter, regarder, sentir) and laisser, the pronoun precedes the conjugated verb when it is the subject of the infinitive (e.g., Je l'entends chanter - I hear him sing). However, if the subject of the infinitive is a noun and the object is a pronoun, the pronoun goes before the infinitive (e.g., Je vois Paul le faire - I see Paul do it). If there are multiple pronouns, they must be split between the verbs (e.g., Je les vois le faire - I see them do it).

4. Imperative: In affirmative commands, the pronoun moves after the verb with a hyphen, and 'me' and 'te' become 'moi' and 'toi'.
Example: Écoute-moi ! (Listen to me!)
However, before 'y' or 'en', they revert to 'm'' and 't'' (e.g., Donne-m'en ! - Give me some!). In negative commands, the pronoun stays before the verb, and 'moi' and 'toi' revert to 'me' and 'te'.
Example: Ne le fais pas ! (Don't do it!) / Ne me regarde pas ! (Don't look at me!)

5. Negation: With ne...pas, the pronoun stays with the verb it modifies. In simple tenses, it is between 'ne' and the verb (Je ne le vois pas - I don't see it). In compound tenses, the negation surrounds both the pronoun and the auxiliary verb (Je ne l'ai pas vu - I didn't see it). In dual-verb constructions, the negation surrounds the conjugated verb, and the pronoun stays before the infinitive (Je ne vais pas le faire - I am not going to do it).

6. Multiple Pronouns: When using multiple pronouns, including y and en, they follow a specific order before the verb (e.g., me/te/se/nous/vous before le/la/les, then lui/leur, then y, then en). However, in affirmative commands, the order changes: direct objects (le/la/les) come before indirect objects (moi/toi/lui/nous/vous/leur) after the verb (e.g., Donne-le-moi ! - Give it to me!).