French - word order for double pronouns - ambiguity

M. B.A2Kwiziq community member

French - word order for double pronouns - ambiguity

Hi. I understand that one could say "Je donne les requins à Anne" (i.e. "I am giving the sharks to Anne...imagine that Anne is a marine biologist) or "Je les donne à Anne" (i.e. I am giving them to Anne) or Je les lui donne" (i.e. I am giving them to her). However, how would one say "I am giving Anne to the sharks" (imagine that Anne has upset the local mafia) using a double pronoun (i.e. "I am giving her to them"? Presumably, one cannot say "Je lui les donne" (because it would violate the rules on the order of pronouns)? What about "Je y lui donne"? Any help gratefully received.

Asked 2 months ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

MB 

‘ Je la leur donne ‘. 

Anne is the direct object in your (extreme and memorable ! ) scenario - direct object pronoun ‘ la ‘ needed ( not the indirect ‘ lui ‘. 

The sharks are the indirect object - ‘ leur ‘. The word order is fixed, as ‘ la ‘ must come before ‘ leur ‘.

No chance of grammatical ambiguity in the context/sentence, but there may be other problems ! 

Position of Double Pronouns in French - Direct Object Pronoun + Indirect Object Pronoun

M. B. asked:View original

French - word order for double pronouns - ambiguity

Hi. I understand that one could say "Je donne les requins à Anne" (i.e. "I am giving the sharks to Anne...imagine that Anne is a marine biologist) or "Je les donne à Anne" (i.e. I am giving them to Anne) or Je les lui donne" (i.e. I am giving them to her). However, how would one say "I am giving Anne to the sharks" (imagine that Anne has upset the local mafia) using a double pronoun (i.e. "I am giving her to them"? Presumably, one cannot say "Je lui les donne" (because it would violate the rules on the order of pronouns)? What about "Je y lui donne"? Any help gratefully received.

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