lui
/lɥi/
In French, the word for 'him' can be expressed as lui.
Meaning: accusative / direct object (pron)
How does it change in a sentence?
The form lui is used for both 'him' and 'her' when they are indirect objects (the recipient of an action).
How do you pronounce it?
/lɥi/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often confuse lui with le. Use le for a direct object (e.g., 'I see him') and lui for an indirect object (e.g., 'I speak to him').
Did you know?
- The phrase lui en faire voir de toutes les couleurs literally means 'to make him see all the colors' but is used to describe giving someone a very hard time.
- While lui acts as a gender-neutral indirect object meaning both 'to him' and 'to her', its meaning becomes strictly masculine when used after a preposition like avec lui ('with him').
- The pronoun lui originates from the Late Latin word illui, which was the dative form of 'ille'.
Examples in context
- Tom lui a dit.Tom told him.Tatoeba #10051129 by Micsmithel, translation #2238815 by CK
- Ne lui dis pas.Don't tell him.Tatoeba #4207716 by michelnialon, translation #3908657 by CH
- Ziri lui a dit.Ziri told him.Tatoeba #10910243 by Amastan, translation #10222208 by Amastan
- Je lui ai dit de venir plus tard.I told him/her to come later.
- Je lui ai donné son cadeau.I gave him/her his/her gift.
- Je le connais bien.I know him well.
- J'y ai parlé hier.I spoke to him/her yesterday.
- Je lui ai offert un cadeau.I gave him/her a gift.
- Je lui ai parlé.I spoke to him/her.
- Je l'ai vu.I saw him/her.
- 4571 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Gabriel are talking about a mutual friend.
- ManonAs-tu téléphoné à Marc ?Did you call Marc?
- GabrielOui, je lui ai parlé ce matin.Yes, I spoke to him this morning.
- ManonEst-ce que tu lui as donné le livre ?Did you give him the book?
- GabrielNon, je vais lui apporter demain.No, I am going to bring it to him tomorrow.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry lui, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries lui, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
