Mon oncle l’attend à la maison.

My uncle is waiting for her at home.

Breakdown of Mon oncle l’attend à la maison.

• mon: my
• la maison: the house
• à: at
• l': her
• l'oncle: the uncle
• attendre: to wait for

Questions & Answers about Mon oncle l’attend à la maison.

What does l’ stand for here, and why is it before the verb?

It’s the direct object pronoun le or la (him, her, it), which elides to l’ before a vowel sound. In French, object pronouns normally come before the conjugated verb: Mon oncle l’attend.

How can I tell whether l’ means him, her, or it?

From context. Without context, l’ is ambiguous. Replace it with the noun to check: Mon oncle attend Paul (him), … attend Marie (her), … attend le colis (it). In the past, agreement can reveal gender: Il l’a attendue (feminine), Il l’a attendu (masculine).

Why not use lui instead of l’ with attendre?

Because attendre takes a direct object in French. Use direct pronouns (le/la/l’). Lui/leur are indirect (for verbs like parler à): Il lui parle (He talks to him), but Il l’attend (He is waiting for him).

How do I make this sentence negative?

Wrap the pronoun+verb cluster with ne … pas. Because ne is before a vowel, it elides: Mon oncle n’ l’attend pas à la maison → spelled correctly: Mon oncle ne l’attend pas à la maison.

How do I turn it into a question?

Three common ways:

• Rising intonation: Mon oncle l’attend à la maison ?
• With est-ce que: Est-ce que mon oncle l’attend à la maison ?
• Inversion: Mon oncle l’attend-il à la maison ? (no extra euphonic -t-, since the verb ends with a consonant sound).

Where does the pronoun go with other tenses or verb constructions?

• Near future: before the infinitive: Mon oncle va l’attendre à la maison.
• Passé composé: before the auxiliary: Mon oncle l’a attendu(e) à la maison.
• Imperative: after the verb in affirmative, before in negative:
  • Attends-le/Attendez-la à la maison !
  • Ne l’attends pas à la maison !

Does the past participle agree with l’?

Yes, with avoir, the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object:

• Masculine sing.: Il l’a attendu.
• Feminine sing.: Il l’a attendue.
• Masculine plural: Il les a attendus.
• Feminine plural: Il les a attendues.

Can I replace à la maison with y? If so, where does it go?

Yes: Mon oncle l’y attend. Pronoun order (before the verb) is: me/te/se/nous/vous > le/la/les > lui/leur > y > en. In the negative: Mon oncle ne l’y attend pas.

Is à la maison the same as chez or dans la maison?

• À la maison = at home (typically the subject’s home).
• Chez lui/elle = at his/her place; chez mon oncle = at my uncle’s place.
• Dans la maison = inside the house (physical interior), not the idiomatic “at home.”

Does attendre need a preposition like “for”?

No. Say attendre quelqu’un/quelque chose (no preposition): Il attend Marie / le bus. To express “wait to do something,” use attendre de + infinitif or attendre que + subjonctif: Attends de manger; Il attend qu’elle arrive.

Can l’attend also mean “expects it/him/her”?

Sometimes, but it’s context-dependent. “To expect” is often s’attendre à: Il s’attend à sa visite / à ce qu’elle vienne. You also see transitive attendre meaning “expect” in set phrases like J’attends beaucoup de toi (I expect a lot from you). With a person, plain Il l’attend is usually “He is waiting for him/her.”

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Approximate IPA: [mɔ̃ nɔ̃kl latɑ̃ a la mɛzɔ̃].

• Mon oncle often has a liaison: [mɔ̃nɔ̃kl].
• l’attend: the final -d in attend is silent: [latɑ̃].
• maison: the s is [z], final -on is nasal: [mɛzɔ̃].

Why is it mon oncle (not ma oncle)?

Because oncle is masculine, so the possessive is mon. Note: with feminine nouns starting with a vowel, French also uses mon to ease pronunciation (e.g., mon amie), but here it’s simply masculine gender.

Can l’ refer to a thing (it), not just a person?

Yes. Example: Mon oncle attend le colis. Mon oncle l’attend à la maison.

How can I emphasize who is being waited for?

Use clefting or dislocation:

• C’est Marie que mon oncle attend à la maison.
• Lui, mon oncle l’attend à la maison.