I'm stuck with when 'lui' means he *or* she ...
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StuartKwiziq community member
I'm stuck with when 'lui' means he *or* she ...
... and times when lui only means he and I must use elle for she. 'I speak of her' in a recent test used 'elle', which I thought should have been 'lui..'
This question relates to:French lesson "Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)"
Asked 7 years ago
Bonjour Stuart,
Lui is two different kinds of pronouns.
When it's a stressed pronoun, it only means him, because there's a feminine stressed pronoun: elle. Lesson: Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)
When it's an indirect object pronoun, it can mean him or her because there is no separate feminine pronoun. Lesson: Using lui/leur = him or her/them (French Indirect Object Pronouns)
In "I speak of her," her is the object of the pronoun of and therefore must be translated by the stressed pronoun elle, not the indirect object lui.
Lui is two different kinds of pronouns.
When it's a stressed pronoun, it only means him, because there's a feminine stressed pronoun: elle. Lesson: Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)
When it's an indirect object pronoun, it can mean him or her because there is no separate feminine pronoun. Lesson: Using lui/leur = him or her/them (French Indirect Object Pronouns)
In "I speak of her," her is the object of the pronoun of and therefore must be translated by the stressed pronoun elle, not the indirect object lui.
HelenKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Laura--
I really appreciate your explanations. I came here because I'm trying to understand why lui is used in this sentence:
"Tu lui a fait confiance" (You trust him) Is this because faire is followed by à or any other reason?
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