To or from?

Question

Sorry, the previous one jumped out without me knowing...
As I can understand, lui/leur is more when we are addressing an action towards someone, right? je lui parle, je leur demande, etc. in the test the question was about "voler" FROM sbody. So is it an exceptional case, or is it both "to" and "from" direction? Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Hi Dina,
If I may add to what Chris has already said...
In the case of the verb 'Voler', meaning to steal , In French you can "Voler quelque chose à quelqu'un"  "steal something from someone" so it can have both a direct and indirect pronoun .
Look at the following simple dialogue: 
"Martine :  Alain a volé un livre à Patrick!
Louise : C'est pas vrai!
Martine: Oui, il le lui a volé." 
'le' replacing livre and 'lui' replacing Patrick.
Hope this helps!

Answer

Hi Dina,
it can be confusing to tie the use of lui/leur to the English translation using to/from. A better way to think about them is to realize that they replace persons as indirect objects (CID in succinct French) when they are preceded by the preposition "à".
Je parle à Marie. -- Je lui parle. (I spoke to her)J'ai demandé à Mike. -- Je lui ai demandé. (I asked him.)Avez-vous téléphoné aux voisins ? -- Avez-vous leur téléphoné? (Did you call them?)
Next to the indirect object there is also a direct object. It isn't preceded by a preposition which is its distinguishing feature. You use direct object pronouns to replace direct objects (COD in French parlance).
Elle me donne un cadeau. -- Elle me le donne. (She gave it to me.)Je préfère ta maison. -- Je la préfère. (I prefere it.)Marie aime les fleures. -- Marie les aime. (Marie likes them).
The verb "voler" usually takes a direct object as the thing that is being stolen:
Le cambrioleurs ont volé des livres. -- Le cambrioleurs les ont volés. (The thieves stole them.)
I hope that helps, -- Chris (not a native speaker).

Answer

Thank you Chris, this really helps!

Answer

Hi Cecile, merci beaucoup! I understand that this works similarly with all verbs which are used with "a" as a grammar rule, penser a, voler a, etc. Thanks for help!