leur vs à eux

GuilhermeB1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

leur vs à eux

Is "Il va leur téléphoner." the same as " Il va téléphoner à eux."?


In other words, can a sentence written with indirect object pronouns be replaced by one with stress pronouns?

Asked 3 years ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Guilherme,

Unfortunately it isn’t possible. You do not write or say: il va téléphoner à moi / toi / lui etc

‘Il va leur téléphoner’ is the same as ‘il va téléphoner à + [persons’ names] :

→ Il va téléphoner à Marc et Julie

→ Il va téléphoner aux enfants

Il va téléphoner à eux

It is similar with 'demander à [qqn]'to ask [sb] 

Here is a link on stress pronouns: common-uses-of-moi-toi-lui-elle-nous-vous-eux-elles-disjunctivestress-pronouns

 

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

@Guilherme, You are right that ‘penser à’ doesn’t work the same. ‘Penser à [sb]’ is part of a list of verbs with which you can’t replace ‘à + noun’ with an indirect object pronoun. Instead you use a stress pronoun:

- Je pense à Sophie → je pense à elle

I think about Sophie → I think about her

- Je m’adresse à mes amis → je m’adresse à eux

I speak to my friends → I speak to them

Similar verbs: penser à, aller à, avoir affaire à, être à (= to belong to [sb]), recourir à, se fier à, faire attention à, s'adresser à, s’intéresser à etc.

Usually, in French, ‘à + noun’ is replaced by an indirect object pronoun:

Je parle à Charles → je lui parle (je parle à lui)

I talk to Charles → I speak to him

Je téléphone à Charles et Marie→Je leur téléphone (je téléphone à eux)

I call Charles and Marie→ I call them

J’écris à Laura → je lui écris (j’écris à elle)

I write to Laura→ I write to her

See list of verbs: verbs-with-a

 

I hope this is helpful and that it is less confusing than my previous answer.

Bonne journée !

GuilhermeB1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Sorry, but I am still confused because one of the examples in that lesson is "Il pense à elle", with elle being a stress pronoun.


So why is it that in the case of "téléphoner à qqn" we can not use a stress pronoun? Is it an exception?

[Note: in one answer about "structures such as 'écrire à qqn', 'téléphoner à qqn'", Laura mentions that "Indirect object pronouns do not follow écrire à and téléphoner à. Once there's a preposition involved that precedes the pronoun, you automatically need the stressed pronoun."]

leur vs à eux

Is "Il va leur téléphoner." the same as " Il va téléphoner à eux."?


In other words, can a sentence written with indirect object pronouns be replaced by one with stress pronouns?

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