Word
Je ne lui ai plus répondu.
Meaning
I didn't answer him anymore.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Je ne lui ai plus répondu.
je
I
lui
him / to him / to her (indirect object)
avoir
to have
répondre
to answer / to reply
Questions & Answers about Je ne lui ai plus répondu.
Why is lui placed before ai instead of before répondu?
In the passé composé, indirect object pronouns like lui must go in front of the conjugated auxiliary verb (ai), not the past participle (répondu).
What is the exact word order with the negative words ne ... plus and the pronoun lui?
The first part of the negative, ne, comes right after the subject. Then comes the object pronoun (lui) and the auxiliary verb (ai). The second part of the negative, plus (anymore), goes immediately after the auxiliary verb, before the past participle (répondu). The complete order is: ne + pronoun + auxiliary verb + plus.
Since the translation says "I didn't answer him", could this sentence also mean "I didn't answer her"?
Yes! As an indirect object pronoun, lui means both "to him" and "to her". The French sentence is exactly the same whether you stopped answering a man or a woman. You would only know which one it is from the context of the conversation.
If lui referred to a woman, would répondu need an extra "e" at the end?