Moi/toi/lui/elle = Me/you/him/her - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns)

Just like in English we have 'I' and 'me' (but note, only 'you'), French uses these so-called singular Stress Pronouns.

Learn how to use stress pronouns in French

Subject Pronoun Stress Pronoun
je
I
moi
me
tu
you
toi
you
il
he
lui
him
elle
she
elle
her
Note :  elle is the same in both.
 

Simple uses of Stress pronouns

- extra emphasis

Moi, je m'appelle Tim.Me, my name is Tim.

Je veux une glace au chocolat mais elle, elle veut une glace à la vanille.I want a chocolate ice cream but she wants a vanilla ice cream.

Et toi, comment tu vas ?And you, how are you?

Note that in English, you would usually use intonation to mark emphasis.


single word responses

Qui veut un cadeau ? Moi ! Moi !Who wants a present? - Me! - Me!

Lui ? Vraiment ?Him? Really?

Qui est ta copine ? - Elle.Who is your girlfriend? - She is.

very simple sentences 

Toi aussi !You too!

Non, pas elle !No, not her!

C'est lui !It's him!



See also the plural stress pronouns: Nous/vous/eux/elles = Us/you/them - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns)
and the more advanced lesson Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)

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Examples and resources

Qui veut un cadeau ? Moi ! Moi !Who wants a present? - Me! - Me!
Oui, c'est toi le menteur !Yes, you are the liar!
literally: Yes, it's you the liar!
Moi, je m'appelle Tim.Me, my name is Tim.
Je veux une glace au chocolat mais elle, elle veut une glace à la vanille.I want a chocolate ice cream but she wants a vanilla ice cream.
Lui ? Vraiment ?Him? Really?
Qui est ta copine ? - Elle.Who is your girlfriend? - She is.
Et toi, comment tu vas ?And you, how are you?
Pas moi !Not me!
Toi aussi !You too!
Non, pas elle !No, not her!
C'est lui !It's him!
Moi/toi/lui/elle = Me/you/him/her - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns)
1 of 2
C'est ! (It is her!)

Q&A Forum 11 questions, 22 answers

Courtney S.A1Kwiziq community member

Stressed pronouns for "us/they"

Are there stressed pronouns for "us/they"? 

Asked 1 month ago
Anne D.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributorCorrect answer

Yes, click on the link just under "Very simple sentences" where it says "See also the plural stress pronouns:"

Nous/vous/eux/elles = Us/you/them - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns)

Courtney S. asked:

Stressed pronouns for "us/they"

Are there stressed pronouns for "us/they"? 

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Jan J.A1Kwiziq community member

use of lui in regards to a body part

She seized his wrist is translated.."Elle lui saisait le poignet."  Why is the "lui" there?

Asked 1 year ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Jan,

I couldn't find your sentence in the lesson you quoted and I think you got the tens e used wrong. 

However, this construction is particular to verbs like saisir ( to grab) or prendre ( to take) and body parts.

Elle lui saisit le poignet = She grabbed his/her wrist 

Il lui prit la main = He took his/her hand 

Without more context, you cannot know whether the part of the body it belongs to is male or female.

Hope this helps!

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Salut Jan,

"Elle lui saisait le poignet"  --> She grasped / took the hand of him.

Lui is the stressed pronoun (third-person singular) for "him" 

Bonne continuation.

Jim

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Jan,

this is a very French way to say that she grabbed his wrist. It isn't using the possessive pronoun (his) as in English but the indirect object pronoun lui. You can think of it as meaning something ilke "She grabbed him the wrist." This doesn't make much sense in English but it works great in French. It is used to indicate possession or ownership.

Here are some more examples:

Le soleil leur brûle la peau. -- The sun burns their skin.
Le vent lui bat la joue. -- The wind beats his/her cheek.

Stylistically, this way emphasizes the owner over the object, the person over the body part, in these examples.

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Deleted - no longer required

Jan J. asked:

use of lui in regards to a body part

She seized his wrist is translated.."Elle lui saisait le poignet."  Why is the "lui" there?

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shirqille t.B2Kwiziq community member

Lui/Elle

I have been taught that lui refers to both male and female but in the exercise they are conceptualized differently. 

Asked 1 year ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

One of the difficulties of learning French (although definitely not unique to the language) is that  the same word can have multiple uses and meanings. This is not limited to ‘lui’, or even just to pronouns. 

As an indirect object pronoun, lui refers to either a male or a female, and context is necessary to know whether ‘him’ or ‘her’ is the English translation. 

When used as stress pronouns, lui only refers to a male, and elle only to a female.

Attached lesson is relevant : 

Using lui/leur = him or her/them (French Indirect Object Pronouns)

shirqille t. asked:

Lui/Elle

I have been taught that lui refers to both male and female but in the exercise they are conceptualized differently. 

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Andrew J.B2Kwiziq community member

I've just been told by a French speaker you can say "je vais lui montrer" to mean "I will show her". Help! I'm confused!

Asked 3 years ago
Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

I suspect the confusion is that when it's a stress pronoun, "lui" always means "him", but as an indirect object pronoun, it's also used for "her".

Using lui/leur = him or her/them (French Indirect Object Pronouns)

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Indeed, that's a perfectly fine sentence. Let's take a look at it:

Montrer qqc à qqn. -- To show something to someone.

The object you're showing is the direct object and the person you're showing it to is the indirect object.

Without the direct object, the meaning -- similar to English -- can also be to convince someone as in "I'll show her!"

Andrew J.B2Kwiziq community member

OK. Thanks, I understand now!

Andrew J. asked:

I've just been told by a French speaker you can say "je vais lui montrer" to mean "I will show her". Help! I'm confused!

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Faithandrews L.A0Kwiziq community member

Honestly, I did not really understand exactly you meant by '' stress pronouns''? Please throw more light on the meaning and use of stress pronouns.

Asked 5 years ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Faithandrews,

They are just another set of pronouns, sometimes called emphatic pronouns. 

You might remember them more easily as the ones used after chez ...

Hope this helps !

Faithandrews L. asked:

Honestly, I did not really understand exactly you meant by '' stress pronouns''? Please throw more light on the meaning and use of stress pronouns.

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Faithandrews L.A0Kwiziq community member

So there are different sets of object pronouns with different role and each have their gender roles or object roles? WOW...FRENCH JUST GOT EASIER.....

Asked 5 years ago
Faithandrews L. asked:

So there are different sets of object pronouns with different role and each have their gender roles or object roles? WOW...FRENCH JUST GOT EASIER.....

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Haloui A.A0Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why?

Why "mais elle,elle veut ..." not" mais elle veut ..."

Asked 5 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Just to reinforce. It's purely stylistic not grammatical. 

Haloui A. asked:

Why?

Why "mais elle,elle veut ..." not" mais elle veut ..."

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Malik O.A0Kwiziq community member

Can I say ''Et tu, comment tu vas?'' why or why not?

Asked 6 years ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Malik,

These stress pronouns are also used after prepositions like 'et'.

So also after words like 

sur, à, avec, pour, après, contre, and of course chez .

Après moi le déluge = When I'm gone let happen what may

Je n'ai rien contre eux = I have nothing against them

On vient avec toi We are coming with you

C'est à toi de jouer It's your turn to play

Je n'ai pas mon agenda sur moi I don't have my diary on me

lui, il a de la chance! = He is so, so lucky !

I find a good way to learn them is after chez, which students seem to grasp easily:

Chez moi, chez toi, chez elle, chez lui, chez nous, chez vous, chez eux, chez elles

P.S. "Et toi, comment tu vas? " or "comment vas-tu ?" are both correct.

Hope this helps!

 

 

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Malik,

First off it would be "Et toi..." and then I must say that I've only ever heard "Comment vas-tu?" or "Tu vas comment?".

-- Chris (not a native speaker)

Malik O. asked:

Can I say ''Et tu, comment tu vas?'' why or why not?

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Rachel B.A1Kwiziq community member

Aren't these pronouns just object pronouns?

Asked 6 years ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Rachel,

There are different sets of pronouns in French .  Fortunately the 'nous' and 'vous' pronouns tend to remain the same in all of them!

These stress pronouns are the ones which come after prepositions too , so I find that a good way to learn them is after the 'chez' ( at the home of) .

Chez moi, chez toi, chez elle, chez lui, chez nous, chez vous, chez eux, chez elles.

Hope this helps!

LauraKwiziq Editor

Bonjour Rachel,

While most stress pronouns are similar to object pronouns, there's one big difference: the indirect object pronoun lui is both masculine and feminine, while for stress pronouns, there is a separate feminine form: elle.

Rachel B.A1Kwiziq community member

Hi Laura, yes, I see that these are a separate set of pronouns from the Direct Object and Indirect Object sets. My question was more based on the usage; basically, when I would use these vs using the object pronouns. I think I've gotten them straight now, to some extent. :)

Thanks!

Rachel B.A1Kwiziq community member

Hi Celcile,

Thanks! I see that they are a different set from the object pronouns - I was curious more so about the usage; in other words, when to use these vs when to use object pronouns. But your explanation about the prepositions in very helpful in explaining the difference.

Rachel B. asked:

Aren't these pronouns just object pronouns?

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Duke H.B1Kwiziq community member

Please explain "Il lui (verbe)"

Bonjour! I'm trying to improve my French through reading, and I've encountered a problem that I don't think was covered in my lessons. I keep seeing the following structure used in a sentence: "Il lui (verbe)." For example: "Il lui manque la montié d'une oreille et ses yeux sont... ." I unferstand this sentence to mean "He is missing half of an ear, and his eyes are... ." My problem is that I can't figure out why such sentences are using "Il lui (verbe)" instead of just "Il (verbe)." Another example is "Il lui arrive même de nous faire cadeau d'un rat." Could you please explain (1) is "lui" is being used as a stress pronoun in this case? And (2) why is it being used at all? Marci! -Duke
Asked 7 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

"Lui" is the indirect object of "il"
That said, let's look at the two sentences you cite (and I am taking the liberty of abbreviating them a bit):

1) Il lui manque une oreille -- He is missing an ear. Literally this would be translated as: "It is an ear missing from him". The "from him" is the indirect object, hence "lui".

2) Il lui arrive de nous faire un cadeau. -- He happens to make us a present. Literally: It happened to him to make us a gift. Again the "to him" is the indirect object, i.e., "lui" in French.

Yes, "lui" could also be the stress pronoun but not in these cases. Stress pronouns usually are at the end of sentences or following prepositions. Neither is the case here.

I suggest you check out the lessons on indirect objects.

 

Greetings,

-- Chris.

Duke H.B1Kwiziq community member
OK, so I wasn't terribly far off from my first guess, which was that the "lui" specified that it was "his" ear that he was missing, and not just a random ear. I only thought it might be a stressed pronoun because I could see the sentence also meaning, "Concerning him, HE was... ." Hmmm...very interesting. I thought I understood indirect objects, but I didn't realize that was what this was, because in English we often omit them in cases like this. Ex: "He was missing half an ear" versus "he was missing half of one of his ears." Thanks! I think I need to become more accustomed to typical French structure!
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Duke, even in the sentence "He was missing half of one of his ears" there is no indirect object in the English sentence. There is the subject (he) the verb (was missing) and the direct object (half of one of his ears). The "his" is a posessive pronoun. -- Chris.
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
The indirect object in English is "him". -- Chris.
Duke H. asked:

Please explain "Il lui (verbe)"

Bonjour! I'm trying to improve my French through reading, and I've encountered a problem that I don't think was covered in my lessons. I keep seeing the following structure used in a sentence: "Il lui (verbe)." For example: "Il lui manque la montié d'une oreille et ses yeux sont... ." I unferstand this sentence to mean "He is missing half of an ear, and his eyes are... ." My problem is that I can't figure out why such sentences are using "Il lui (verbe)" instead of just "Il (verbe)." Another example is "Il lui arrive même de nous faire cadeau d'un rat." Could you please explain (1) is "lui" is being used as a stress pronoun in this case? And (2) why is it being used at all? Marci! -Duke

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Will s.A2Kwiziq community member

Why would I use a stress pronoun?

I can see on the lesson about plural stress pronouns that this would be for simple sentences or one word responses. But are there other situations?
Asked 7 years ago
Ron T.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer
Bonjour Will, En réponse à votre question, voici un phrase d'explication de la leçon en ce qui concerne pronoms de stress avancé: Notice that stress pronouns are used in the following 3 cases: - in sentences, after prepositions (de, à, avec, derrière, pour etc), - in comparisons, after que (plus/moins/aussi ....que), - with the restriction ne... que (only), after que. Comme on le voit, il y a plusieurs d'occasions d'utiliser des pronoms de stress. Bien sûr, j'espère que cela vous aiderait. Bonne chance et bonne continuation dans vos études de la langage française, la «Langue de Molière». Ron
Will s. asked:

Why would I use a stress pronoun?

I can see on the lesson about plural stress pronouns that this would be for simple sentences or one word responses. But are there other situations?

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