Learn French: C'est un bon plat, je lui en sers. - It is a good dish, I am serving him some of it.

C'est un bon plat, je lui en sers.

It is a good dish, I am serving him some of it.

Breakdown of C'est un bon plat, je lui en sers.

être

to be

a / an (masculine)

it / this (with être)

Questions & Answers about C'est un bon plat, je lui en sers.

Why is the order lui en and not en lui?

When using multiple object pronouns, French follows a strict order. The indirect object pronouns (lui, leur) always come before the adverbial pronouns (y or en). Therefore, it must be je lui en sers.

What exactly does en replace in this sentence?

en translates to "some of it" here. It replaces the partitive article and the noun (du plat). Without en, the full idea would be je lui sers du plat (I serve him some of the dish).

Why do we use lui here instead of the direct object pronoun le?

The verb servir (to serve) is structured as serving something to someone (servir quelque chose à quelqu'un). Because you are serving the dish to him, "him" is an indirect object. We use lui to mean "to him" (or "to her").

Why does the sentence start with C'est instead of Il est?

In French, you must use c'est when it is followed by a modified noun, which means a determiner like un plus a noun like plat. Because we have un bon plat, we use C'est rather than Il est.