Word
C'est mon collègue, et je m'attache à lui.
Meaning
He is my colleague, and I am getting attached to him.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of C'est mon collègue, et je m'attache à lui.
je
I
et
and
lui
him / to him / to her (indirect object)
le collègue
the colleague
Questions & Answers about C'est mon collègue, et je m'attache à lui.
Why is it à lui at the end instead of putting lui before the verb like usual?
With most verbs, an indirect object like "to him" becomes the pronoun lui placed before the verb (for example, je lui parle). However, s'attacher is a pronominal verb here, indicated by the reflexive pronoun m'. In French, you cannot put an indirect object pronoun before the verb if there is already a reflexive pronoun. Instead, you must keep the preposition à after the verb and use a stressed pronoun, giving us je m'attache à lui.
Why do we use C'est instead of Il est to say "He is"?
If the colleague were a woman, how would the end of the sentence change?
The stressed pronoun for a female is elle. So, instead of à lui, you would use à elle, making the phrase je m'attache à elle. The first part would also change to C'est ma collègue.
Does s'attacher à only mean emotional attachment?