Breakdown of Il s'agit du successeur ; je ne m'oppose pas à lui.
je
I
lui
him / to him / to her (indirect object)
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
il s'agit de
it is about, it is a matter of
s'opposer à
to oppose
le successeur
the successor
Questions & Answers about Il s'agit du successeur ; je ne m'oppose pas à lui.
Why do we put à lui at the end instead of using the indirect object pronoun before the verb (like je ne me lui oppose pas)?
Because s'opposer is a reflexive verb. French grammar doesn't allow you to put an indirect object pronoun (like lui or leur) right before a verb that already has a reflexive pronoun (like me, te, or se). To avoid this clash, reflexive verbs followed by à must keep the preposition and use a stressed pronoun (like lui, elle, or eux) after the verb when referring to a person.
What if I were opposing a new law instead of a person? Would I still use à lui for "it"?
Why does the sentence use Il s'agit du to say "This is about the"?
Il s'agit de is a very common fixed expression meaning "it is about", "it's a question of", or "it concerns". It is always impersonal, meaning the il doesn't mean "he", but rather the abstract "it" (just like in il pleut). Because successeur is a masculine singular noun, the preposition de contracts with the article le to become du.
The verb agir means "to act". Why isn't this translated as "He is acting"?
While agir alone does mean "to act", adding the reflexive pronoun and the preposition to make s'agir de completely changes its meaning. It becomes a totally different, impersonal verb expression. You will never see je m'agis de or tu t'agis de; it only ever exists in the third-person singular form il s'agit de.
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