Elle me fait du mal quand elle dit ça.She hurts me when she says that.
Hello everyone one, there is little thing I can’t able to understand that is why before « quand » we are not using the preposition « à » when the expression have fixed- faire du mal à. After « mal » there should be a preposition. But in that sentence there is not. Why is it. Thank’s in advance.
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Md alamgir M.Kwiziq community member
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This question relates to:French lesson "Faire mal à vs Faire du mal à = to hurt someone (French Expressions with faire)"
Asked 3 years ago
No, no, you're getting confused. Let me show you:
Elle fait du mal à Marie quand elle fait ça. -- She hurts Marie when she says that.
Elle lui fait du mal quand elle fait ça. -- She hurts her when she says that.
The indirect object of the first sentence is Marie (indicated by à before it). In the second sentence, you replaced the indirect object by the indirect object pronoun lui, which doesn't need the à. But by the rules for word order, lui moves ahead in the sentence.
Mark P. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
You can think of it that "lui" includes the meaning "à".. to him.
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