# FR: I call you



## strawberryrose7

What would be the difference between 
Je vous téléphone
         &
Je téléphone vous

Or could you use either one?


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## SwissPete

The first one is right; the second one is not.


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## strawberryrose7

When do you have to put the subjects together and not the other way around?


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## Juan Jacob Vilalta

strawberryrose7 said:


> When do you have to put the subjects together and not the other way around?


 
The other way around as in English !

I ask you.
Je vous demande.
Etc.
Please, see basic rules in French.


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## sojourner84

In a French declarative statement you always put the direct object BEFORE the verb.

_Je vous téléphone ~_or~ _Je te téléphone _is correct.

_Je téléphone vous _is incorrect.

In a command sentence, such as: _Téléphone-moi! _The indirect object comes after the verb. 

Don't ask me why, it's just how the language works. ;-) I hope this helps!


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## kervarker

Bonjour,

Here the object is indirect : in French "téléphoner" is intransitive (téléphoner à quelqu'un)

When the object is not a personal pronoun it is placed after the verb :
"je téléphone à mon fils"

but when it is a personal pronoun it is placed before 
"je lui téléphone"


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## sojourner84

kervarker said:


> Bonjour,
> 
> Here the object is indirect : in French "téléphoner" is intransitive(téléphoner à quelqu'un)


 
_Téléphoner _can in fact be a transitive or intransitive verb because can take a direct object but it doesn't have to.


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## The Prof

sojourner84 said:


> _Téléphoner _can in fact be a transitive or intransitive verb because can take a direct object but it doesn't have to.


 
I'm struggling here - I can't think of a direct object that could go with téléphoner!


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## jann

The Prof said:


> I'm struggling here - I can't think of a direct object that could go with téléphoner!


You're right.  Soujourner surely meant that _téléphoner_ can take an *in*direct object.  But regardless of whether the object is direct or indirect, the verb is still classified as "transitive" when accompanied by an object.


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## sojourner84

Thank you, jann. I need to brush up on my grammar.


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## kervarker

Bonjour,

I meant that when the English verb is transitive (Paul phones Mary), the French verb is intransitive (Paul téléphone *à* Marie)

In fact "téléphoner" can have a direct object, as in "je te téléphonerai tes résultats" (I found the sentence in a dictionary), but it's rarely used, we would rather say "je te donnerai tes résultats par téléphone" ou "je te téléphonerai pour te donner tes résultats"


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## The Prof

kervarker said:


> Bonjour,
> 
> I meant that when the English verb is transitive (Paul phones Mary), the French verb is intransitive (Paul téléphone *à* Marie)
> 
> In fact "téléphoner" can have a direct object, as in "je te téléphonerai tes résultats" (I found the sentence in a dictionary), but it's rarely used, we would rather say "je te donnerai tes résultats par téléphone" ou "je te téléphonerai pour te donner tes résultats"


 
Well done! I tried to think of a '_téléphoner_' sentence with a direct object, but couldn't. 

Your example is good, and in fact it is a construction that we use quite often in English, so I am really glad that you were able to post it here. Sentences that contain both a direct and an indirect object are_ so_ useful to people who are trying to grasp the difference.


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## jann

kervarker said:


> Bonjour,
> 
> I meant that when the English verb is transitive (Paul phones Mary), the French verb is intransitive (Paul téléphone *à* Marie)


 Certainly the English verb takes a direct object ("to call someone"), and the French one takes an indirect object ("téléphoner à quelqu'un").  But that does not make the French verb "intransitive."  An intransitive verb allows no object at all.  So the French verb, with its indirect object, is indeed transitive... as you can see from the grammatical information in a dictionary like the TLFi. 

We sometimes classify verbs as "transitive direct" or "transitive indirect."  As you point out, it's possible to think of a transitive direct construction for _téléphoner_, but the primary construction ("téléphoner à quelqu'un") is transitive indirect.... unlike English (which was perhaps your primary point, in the end).


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## kervarker

You're right, thanks for the correction. I will copy 100 times "Il ne faut pas confondre verbe intransitif et verbe transitif indirect" (copying a sentence 100 times is a classic punishment for pupils in France...)


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