I speak of her

Question

I'm confused why "I speak of her" is "Je parle d'elle" as my first instinct would be to say "je l'en parle". What am I missing here?
Thanks.

Chris Wirt · Accepted Answer

Hi harris,

The French verb "parler" can have two pieces of information attached to it: with whom you speak and what you speak of. For example:

Je parle à Marie de son travail. -- I speak with Marie about her work.

You can now proceed to substitute pronouns for each of the two parts and it would go like this:

Je lui en parle. -- I speak with her about it.

The topic you speek about is always "de + (topic)". If you speak about her then it is "d'elle". The person you speak with is always an indirect object in French: "parler À quelqu'un". Therefore it goes like this:

Je te parle -- I speak with you.
Je lui parle -- I speak with him (or her; only context would tell).
Je vous parle -- I speak with them (or you; in a formal setting)

"Je l'en parle" is definitely incorrect.

Greetings, -- Chris (not a native speaker).

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Joan, 
Indeed,
"Je lui parle d'eux" is correct for "I speak with him about them"...

Chris Wirt · Answer

...sorry, just to correct a typo:

Je vous parle -- I speak with you (either a group or a formal "tu")

Joan Chong · Answer

Hi Chris, if I want to say: "I speak with him about them", is it : "Je lui parle d'eux" ?Thanks