Le patron a demandé ce dossier il y a une heure. Apportez-le-lui !

Questions & Answers about Le patron a demandé ce dossier il y a une heure. Apportez-le-lui !

Why is it Apportez-le-lui instead of Apportez-lui-le?
In affirmative commands (telling someone to do something), the object pronouns attach to the end of the verb. When you have two pronouns, the direct object (le, la, or les) always comes before the indirect object (lui or leur). So, we say Apportez-le-lui rather than putting the indirect object first.
Why are there two hyphens in Apportez-le-lui?
In affirmative commands, you must use hyphens to attach the pronouns to the verb and to each other. If this were a negative command, the pronouns would jump back in front of the verb and lose the hyphens: Ne le lui apportez pas !
Where is the word for 'for' in a demandé ce dossier?
In French, the verb demander means 'to ask for' when you follow it directly with a noun. You don't need a preposition like pour. You just use demander followed immediately by the thing you want.
Why does il y a mean 'ago' here instead of 'there is'?
When il y a is followed by a period of time, such as une heure (an hour) or trois jours (three days), it translates to 'ago'. So il y a une heure literally means 'there is an hour,' but it is how French speakers say 'an hour ago'.

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