Stress pronouns with à

ismail d.A1Kwiziq community member

Stress pronouns with à

Why is "He's thinking of her" - Il pense à elle instead of Il lui pense?

If someone were to ask the question "Pense-il a Marie?" Would the answer be "Oui, il lui pense."  

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Ismail,

There are some verbs that behave differently when followed by the prepositions à and de when referring to people.

I can't find a specific rule pertaining to this but here are some examples-

Parler à quelqu'un = to speak/to talk to someone 

----> Je leur parle = I speak to them

But 

Parler de quelqu'un to talk about someone

----> Je parle d'elle I am talking about her 

Penser à quelqu'un to think of someone

----> je pense à elles I am thinking of them 

Rêver de quelqu'un = to dream of someone

-----> J'ai rêvé de lui hier soir I dreamt about him last night

Other verbs include songer à quelqu'un, faire attention à quelqu'un, not many but enough to cause confusion.

Hope this helps!

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

No, you can’t say je te pense. It is always je pense à toi. The inverted question is also pense-t-il à elle?

Is there a rule for that? I don’t know. I’ve never come across one. 

Stress pronouns with à

Why is "He's thinking of her" - Il pense à elle instead of Il lui pense?

If someone were to ask the question "Pense-il a Marie?" Would the answer be "Oui, il lui pense."  

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
I'll be right with you...