Distinguishing between men and women with 'lui'

Erica A.C1Kwiziq community member

Distinguishing between men and women with 'lui'

How do you know 'lui' in the instance below is a woman?

Il n'avait jamais pu lui avouer la vérité?

This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate pouvoir in the pluperfect tense in French (Le Plus-que-Parfait)"

Asked 2 years ago

Like0Answer3

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

You don't know from this single sentence. Only context will tell whether lui refers to a man or a woman.

Like02 years ago

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Erica,

Difficult to comment without sight of the full context.

What is the context of the fuller text within which your query sentence appears?

Jim

Like02 years ago

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

In this sentence, you do know - because of the translation.

As Chris has correctly noted, without the translation more context would be required. This would be either known, or enquired about in a conversation. In a more complete text, it would be unusual for the context not to be clear.

Like02 years ago

Erica A. asked: