Le coursier trouve le destinataire et le lui donne.

Questions & Answers about Le coursier trouve le destinataire et le lui donne.

Why is the order le lui instead of lui le?
When you have two third-person object pronouns in a sentence (like le, la, or les combined with lui or leur), the direct object (le, la, les) must always come before the indirect object (lui, leur). So to say gives it to him, you must say le lui donne.
How do we know what le and lui refer to in this sentence?
The first pronoun le is the direct object meaning it (the item being delivered, which would be a masculine noun like un colis). The second pronoun lui is the indirect object meaning to him (referring to the recipient, le destinataire).
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