Penser with tonic/stressed pronouns

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Penser with tonic/stressed pronouns

I'm not sure that it is correct to use a stressed pronoun for the first and second persons with the verb penser.

Is it correct to write "Je te pense" or  to write "je pense à toi" ?

I suspect that the former could be misunderstood that the indirect object pronoun "te" might represent the preposition  "de" and therefore change the intended meaning? 

I'm thinking that we only use the stressed / tonic pronouns with the third person?

Can someone clear this matter up for me, please?


Asked 3 years ago
Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Hi Alan,

Thanks for your input.

It's a bit tricky with penser because it has to have an indirect object introduced by either à or de.

So "te" in your example would not be able to be direct, only indirect.

I'm inclined to think that you are correct however with "Je pense à toi" but not "Je te pense".

I've tried numerous references without really getting to the bottom of this grammatical point.

Regards,

Jim

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I don't quite follow your logic here, since there is more possibility of confusion in the first and second persons (where direct and indirect pronouns are the same) than in the third.

But anyway, to say that you're thinking about someone, you always use a stressed pronoun. So "I'm thinking about you" is "je pense à toi" To give an opinion of someone you use "te", e.g. "je te pense capable". I think this must actually be a direct pronoun, because you would use "le" for "him", not "lui".

A famous example is the Francis Cabrel song, "Je pense encore à toi".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgKcNf1DamM

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Jim, 

Just to add to Alan's excellent answer, I have answered your query posted in another question.

Bonne Continuation!

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Thanks, Cécile,

Please could you let me have the link to where you have answered another similar question to that of mine?

Best regards, Jim

Penser with tonic/stressed pronouns

I'm not sure that it is correct to use a stressed pronoun for the first and second persons with the verb penser.

Is it correct to write "Je te pense" or  to write "je pense à toi" ?

I suspect that the former could be misunderstood that the indirect object pronoun "te" might represent the preposition  "de" and therefore change the intended meaning? 

I'm thinking that we only use the stressed / tonic pronouns with the third person?

Can someone clear this matter up for me, please?


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