Il or lui as subject?

N. W.C1Kwiziq community member

Il or lui as subject?

This question was asked in a TV show I watched today: “…mais est-ce que lui voudra te voir?” My question is why is lui used instead of il?

Asked 1 year ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

This is actually a very interesting little question.

All you need is a comma after lui to make sense of it.

Est-ce que lui, (il) voudra te voir ?Will HE want to see you?

Take a look at this lesson on disjunctive pronouns -

French Disjunctive Pronouns

 

 

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Without hearing the phrase spoken, without full context, can only speculate. This link on many ways in which 'stress pronouns' are used in French to add emphasis may help

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/stressed-pronouns/

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

My brain parses this phrase like so: Est-ce lui (qui) voudra te voir? -- Is it him who'll want to see you?

The relative pronoun qui is omitted and lui functions as the stress pronoun and subject of both the main and the relative clauses.

N. W. asked:

Il or lui as subject?

This question was asked in a TV show I watched today: “…mais est-ce que lui voudra te voir?” My question is why is lui used instead of il?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
I'll be right with you...