Why Jacques lui manque vs. Jacques elle manque? I have so much trouble with these pronouns. Thanks!

Liz H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why Jacques lui manque vs. Jacques elle manque? I have so much trouble with these pronouns. Thanks!

Asked 5 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Jacques manque à Paul --> Jacques lui manque. -- He misses Jacques.

Jacques manque à Marie --> Jacques lui manque. -- She misses Jacques.

As you can see, the personal pronoun used for the female and male cases is the same, namely lui. Looking only at the French, you can't tell whether it's a she or a he, who is missing Jacques.

"Elle" would not be correct in this context, because elle is not the personal pronoun for an indirect object.

Elle manque à Sean. --> Elle lui manque. -- He misses her.

In this example, "elle" is the subject and not the personal pronoun for the indirect object.

tanmay N.A0Kwiziq community member

Study well

Liz H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thanks so much!

CécileKwiziq team member

Just to add to Chris' excellent answer :

the only time you will use 'elle' apart from meaning 'she' as a subject pronoun is after a preposition , think of chez 

chez elle at her house

Take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson for these stress pronouns ( also known as emphatic/disjunctive pronouns -

https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/common-uses-of-moi-toi-lui-elle-nous-vous-eux-elles-disjunctivestress-pronouns

Hope I don't confuse matters....

Liz H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thanks for the additional information about when to use elle. 

Why Jacques lui manque vs. Jacques elle manque? I have so much trouble with these pronouns. Thanks!

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