Salut! J'ai un question. Il est furieux contre elle, et elle est furieuse contre lui. Why is it not "Il est furieux contre lui"

Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Salut! J'ai un question. Il est furieux contre elle, et elle est furieuse contre lui. Why is it not "Il est furieux contre lui"

Asked 6 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Claudia,

After prepositions you will use stress/emphatic pronouns which are:

moi, toi, lui, elle, soi, nous, vous, eux , elles

The following lesson will give you more explanations -

https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/common-uses-of-moi-toi-lui-elle-nous-vous-eux-elles-disjunctivestress-pronouns

I find students remember them well after the preposition 'chez':

Chez moi, chez toi, chez elle, chez lui, chez soi, chez nous, chez vous, chez elles, chez eux.

So in the examples you give,

Il est furieux contre elle He is furious with her

Il est furieux contre lui He is furious with him

Elle est furieuse contre elleShe is furious with her

Elle est furieuse contre lui  She is furious with him

It could be -

Nous sommes furieux contre elles We are furious with them ( them in this case being several women)

Hope this helps!

 

S. H.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Claudia,

I think the answer is that stressed pronouns are required after certain prepositions (including contre):

Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)

Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Merci Steve.

But then we have "Elle est furieuse contre lui" And the other example "Il est amoureux d'elle, et elle est amoureuse de lui". Both frases in the sentence have the preposition.

S. H.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Perhaps I have not understood your question correctly.

Lui is the stressed pronoun for him.

Elle is the stressed pronoun for her.

Let me know what would make sense for you in those sentences.

Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci Steve. I guess my problem stems from not grasping these pronouns 
Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci Steve. I guess my problem stems from not grasping these pronouns 
Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci Steve. I guess my problem stems from not grasping these pronouns 
S. H.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

It's tremendously confusing.

The fact is that there are different types of pronouns, and many of the words appear in all those different lists of pronouns (there is a nice table on this page: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/personal-pronouns/ ).

So lui means "to him" or "to her" if we are using an indirect pronouns, but when a stressed pronoun is required, then lui is used for both masculine and feminine!

Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci Cecile. I haven't studied this topic before, hense my confusion. Thank you for the link
Claudia A.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
I am very grateful for your help. Merci beaucoup for the links. Very useful 
CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Steve, just a correction -

There are feminine and masculine forms in the stress pronouns:

elle feminine singular

lui = masculine singular

ellesfeminine plural

euxmasculine, or a mixture of the two, plural

S. H.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Arrrg.

Yes - got them the wrong way round!

Claudia A. asked:

Salut! J'ai un question. Il est furieux contre elle, et elle est furieuse contre lui. Why is it not "Il est furieux contre lui"

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