Learn French: Si tu as besoin de ce manuel, je te le prête. - If you need this textbook, I lend it to you.

Word

Si tu as besoin de ce manuel, je te le prête.

Meaning

If you need this textbook, I lend it to you.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

French

Lesson

Double object pronouns with 1st/2nd person (me le, te la)

Breakdown of Si tu as besoin de ce manuel, je te le prête.

you (informal singular)

this (before a noun)

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Si tu as besoin de ce manuel, je te le prête.

Why are the pronouns in the order te le instead of le te?

In French, when you use two object pronouns together and one is a 1st or 2nd person pronoun (me, te, nous, vous), it always comes before the 3rd person direct object (le, la, les). Since te is a 2nd person pronoun (meaning "to you"), it has to go before le (meaning "it").

How do we know to use le instead of la for "it"?

The pronoun le replaces the specific thing being lent: ce manuel (this textbook). Because manuel is a masculine noun, you must use the masculine pronoun le to say "it".

Why is there a de before ce manuel?

In French, you don't use a single verb for "to need." Instead, you use the expression avoir besoin de, which literally means "to have need of." The de is a strictly required part of that expression, linking it to the thing you need.

The English translation says "I lend it to you," but wouldn't "I will lend it to you" make more sense?