Breakdown of Le coursier trouve le destinataire et le lui donne.
et
and
lui
him / to him / to her (indirect object)
trouver
to find
donner
to give
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
le coursier
the courier
le destinataire
the recipient
Questions & Answers about Le coursier trouve le destinataire et le lui donne.
Why is the order le lui instead of lui le?
How do we know what le and lui refer to in this sentence?
Why do we use the indirect object pronoun lui here instead of a direct object?
In French, the verb to give works as donner quelque chose à quelqu'un (to give something to someone). Because the person receiving the object is introduced by the preposition à, they are an indirect object. We use lui for a singular third-person indirect object (to him or to her).
I see the word le twice in this sentence. Do they serve the same grammatical purpose?
No, they have completely different roles! In le destinataire, le is a definite article meaning the. In le lui donne, le is a direct object pronoun meaning it.
Learn Le coursier trouve le destinataire et le lui donne and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free