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FRENCH
VERBS
with
The aim of the guide is to give you a handy list of 25 of the most common
French verbs from day-to-day life which take lui and leur instead of le, la,
l’, and les as pronouns in French sentences to mean him, her, and them.
Think:
Whereas:
Je ne le juge pas.
I don't judge him.
However, it's almost because these can be pronouns for both types of
verbs, that the confusion arises for lui, leur, and le, la, l', les.
Why have one rule for one set of pronouns, and another for another?
Well, when you do understand what the logic behind it is, it's actually
more coincidence that first (me, nous) and second person (tu, vous) don't
change, and sensible that the third person (lui, leur, le, la, l', les) do.
This guide suits both those French learners who couldn't care less about
why these changes occur, as much as those who want to know.
First of all, it allows you to confidently use the 25 most common French
verbs correctly, and secondly it also ignites that curiosity into the logic
behind it that burns in you (if you've got this far, then you're likely a bit
like me).
The guide only aims to solve this very specific problem faced by us
French learners.
Possible sentence:
Ce chapeau lui va très bien.
English:
That hat suits him very well.
Possible sentence:
Cette nouvelle façon d'être lui va. Je suis content pour elle.
English:
This newfound way of being suits her. I'm happy for her.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Alex leur apprend le français sur YouTube.
English:
Alex teaches them/is teaching them French on YouTube.
Expanded for clarity:
Alex apprend à ses élèves le français sur YouTube.
Possible sentence:
Elle lui apprenait à lire le samedi.
English:
She taught him to read on Saturdays.
Expanded for clarity:
Elle apprenait à Thibault à lire le samedi.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Ça lui/leur arrive de temps en temps.
English:
It/that happens to him/her/them from time to time.
Expanded for clarity:
Ça arrive à la vieille dame/aux vieilles dames de temps en temps.
Possible sentence:
Ce qui leur arrive en ce moment peut arriver à n'importe qui.
English:
What's happening to them at the moment can happen to anyone.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Je ne lui ai rien caché.
English:
I hid nothing from him/her.
Expanded for clarity:
Je n'ai rien caché à mon père.
Possible sentence:
Mais tu leur caches toujours des choses.
English:
But you still hide things from them.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Je lui ai conseillé la truite; elle est délicieuse.
English:
I recommended him the trout; it's delicious.
Expanded for clarity:
J'ai conseillé la truite à votre mari; elle est délicieuse.
Possible sentence:
Eric dit qu'on leur a conseillé de venir.
English:
Eric says that someone recommended the family members to come.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Elle leur demandera s'il est possible.
English:
She'll ask them if it's possible.
Expanded for clarity:
Elle demandera aux voisins s'il est possible.
Possible sentence:
Je lui ai demandé de venir demain matin.
English:
I've asked him/her to come tomorrow morning.
Possible sentence:
Je lui ai dit qu'il était trop beau.
English:
I told him (that) he's really handsome.
Expanded for clarity:
J'ai dit à Guilhem qu'il était trop beau.
Possible sentence:
Il vient de leur dire ce qu'il a fait.
English:
He just told them what he did.
"venir de + infinitive"
"just + past tense.
e.g. just done, just said, just eaten.
Possible sentence:
Lui avez-vous déjà donné la bonne adresse ?
English:
Have you already given him/her the directions?
Expanded for clarity:
Avez-vous déjà donné la bonne adresse à votre père ?
Possible sentence:
Leur donner un cadeau, quand ils ne le méritent pas, n'est pas le bon
exemple.
English:
To give/giving them a present when they don't deserve it, doesn't set a
good example.
Possible sentence:
Elle lui écrit une lettre tous les mois.
English:
She writes him/her a letter every month.
Expanded for clarity:
Elle écrit une lettre à son ami.e tous les mois.
Possible sentence:
Je veux que tu leur écrives pour t'excuser.
English:
I want you to write to them to/and apologise.
Possible sentence:
Ils lui ont envoyé ce qu'elle avait commandé.
English:
They sent her what she had ordered.
Expanded for clarity:
Ils ont envoyé à Lisa ce qu'elle avait commandé.
Possible sentence:
Il leur a envoyé une invitation il y a un mois.
English:
He sent them an invitation a month ago.
Possible sentence:
Il va lui faire un cadeau pour son anniversaire.
English:
He's going to make/give him/her a gift for his/her birthday.
Expanded for clarity:
Il va faire un cadeau à son/sa meilleur.e pote pour son anniversaire.
Possible sentence:
Dans 2 heures, le juge leur fera un sermon.
English:
In 2 hours, the judge is going to give them a lecture.
Possible sentence:
Il lui faudrait un titre de séjour, s'il voulait rester en France.
English:
He would need a visa if he wanted to stay in France.
Expanded for clarity:
Il faudrait un titre de séjour à son frère s'il voulait rester en France.
Possible sentence:
Il leur faudra du temps pour lire les questions.
English:
They will need time to read the questions.
Possible sentence:
Le concierge de l'hôtel leur fournit des renseignements.
English:
The hotel's concierge provided guests with information.
Expanded for clarity:
Le concierge de l'hôtel fournit des renseignements aux clients.
Possible sentence:
L'entreprise leur fournissait des uniformes.
English:
The company provided them with uniforms.
Possible sentence:
Sa grand-mère lui a laissé sa boîte à bijoux.
English:
His/her grandma left him/her her jewellery box.
Possible sentence:
Si on leur laisse une chance, ils vont tout détruire.
English:
If we give them a chance, they'll destroy everything.
Possible sentence:
Son père lui lisait un livre chaque nuit.
English:
His/her dad read a book to him/her every night.
Expanded for clarity:
Le père lisait à son fils/sa fille un livre chaque nuit.
Possible sentence:
Leur patron leur a lu la nouvelle politique sur le harcèlement.
English:
Their boss read them the new harassment policy.
Possible sentence:
Aujourd'hui, je lui ai mis un manteau car il pleuvait.
English:
Today, I put his coat on for him because it was raining.
Expanded for clarity:
Aujourd'hui, j'ai mis un manteau à mon petit-fils car il pleuvait.
Possible sentence:
Leurs parents leur mettent de nouveaux chapeaux.
English:
Their parents put their new hats on them.
Possible sentence:
Chéri, tu veux lui montrer ta chambre ?
English:
Darling, do you want to show him/her your room?
Expanded for clarity:
Chéri, tu veux montrer ta chambre à Frédéric ?
Possible sentence:
Le conseiller à la banque leur a montré où signer le formulaire.
English:
The course will show them how to do their taxes.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Je viens de lui parler.
English:
I just spoke to him/I've just spoken to him.
Expanded for clarity:
Je viens de parler à Eric.
Possible sentence:
Il allait leur parler avant qu'ils ne partent en vacances.
English:
He was going to talk to them before they left on holiday.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Son coéquipier lui a passé le ballon.
English:
Her teammate passed her the ball.
Expanded for clarity:
Le coéquipier a passé le ballon à la gardienne.
Possible sentence:
Il leur aurait passé le virus s'il y était resté.
English:
He would have passed the virus on to them if he had stayed.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Elle voulait leur payer un verre pour les remercier.
English:
She wanted to buy them a drink to thank them.
Expanded for clarity:
Elle voulait payer à ses amis un verre pour les remercier.
Possible sentence:
Tu dois lui payer car c'est lui qu'il a réglé l'addition.
English:
You need to pay Thomas because it was him that paid the bill/check.
"Payer à quelqu'un is
a common mistake due
to English's influence.
Examples
Possible sentence:
On lui a pris son portefeuille.
English:
Someone took her wallet (from her).
Expanded for clarity:
On a pris le portefeuille à Chloé.
English:
It's going to take them 10 or 15 minutes.
Possible sentence:
Ça lui prenait beaucoup d'énergie.
English:
It took/required a lot of energy (from/of them).
Examples
Possible sentence:
Elle lui racontera comment sa journée se serait passé.
English:
She'll tell him/fill him in on how her day went.
Expanded for clarity:
Elle racontera comment sa journée se serait passé à son copain.
Possible sentence:
Si je leur raconte ça, ils me croiront.
English:
If I tell them that, they'll believe me.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Si on lui rend l'argent, on n'aura plus rien.
English:
If we give the money back to him, we'll have nothing left.
Expanded for clarity:
Si on rend l'argent à ton père, on n'aura plus rien.
Possible sentence:
Le surveillant leur rendra leurs téléphones à la fin de l'examen.
English:
The invigilator will return their phones (to them) at the end of the exam.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Je lui ai répondu que je n'étais pas intéressée.
English:
I told him (that) I wasn't interested.
Expanded for clarity:
J'ai répondu au type au bar que je n'étais pas intéressée.
Possible sentence:
Elles leur répondent en français.
English:
She answers them in French.
Examples
Possible sentence:
Il lui reste quinze minutes.
English:
He has fifteen minutes left.
Expanded for clarity:
Il reste à Romain quinze minutes.
Possible sentence:
Il ne leur reste qu'un peu de lait.
English:
They only have a bit of milk left.