lui
/lɥi/
The French word lui can mean several things depending on its grammatical role.
When used as an indirect object pronoun, lui means 'to him' or 'to her'.
Which one should you use?
As a disjunctive (stressed) pronoun used after prepositions such as avec or pour, lui refers only to a male, while elle is used to refer to a female.
How does it change in a sentence?
As an indirect object pronoun, lui is used for both masculine and feminine singular third-person recipients.
How do you pronounce it?
/lɥi/
Did you know?
- The word lui is a linguistic survivor from the Late Latin word illui, which eventually lost its initial 'i' over centuries of phonetic evolution.
- Unlike the English 'him', which can be a direct object ('I saw him'), lui can only be an indirect object in French. To say 'I saw him', a speaker must use le.
- In the phrase lui-même, lui combines with même to create a reflexive meaning similar to 'himself'. This construction is used to emphasize that the person acted alone.
Examples in context
- Je lui ai offert un cadeau.I gave him a gift.
- Je pense à lui tous les jours.I think of him every day.
- Je lui ai donné le livre.I gave him the book.
- Elle lui a téléphoné hier.She called him yesterday.
- Tu lui parles souvent ?Do you talk to him often?
Example conversation
Lucas and Chloé are discussing a mutual friend at a cafe.
- LucasEst-ce que tu lui as envoyé un message ?Did you send him a message?
- ChloéNon, je ne lui ai pas encore écrit.No, I haven't written to him yet.
- LucasIl attend une réponse de ta part.He is waiting for an answer from you.
- ChloéD'accord, je lui réponds tout de suite.Okay, I'll reply to him right away.
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.
