Nous le lui apportons ce soir au centre-ville.

We are bringing it to her this evening downtown.

Breakdown of Nous le lui apportons ce soir au centre-ville.

• nous: we
• apporter: to bring
• le: it
• ce soir: tonight
• lui: her
• au: in the
• le centre-ville: the downtown

Questions & Answers about Nous le lui apportons ce soir au centre-ville.

Why is it le lui and not lui le?

French object pronouns must follow a fixed order when they come before the verb:

• me/te/se/nous/vous
• le/la/les
• lui/leur
• y
• en

Since le (direct object) comes before lui (indirect object), the correct sequence is le lui.

Exception in the affirmative imperative (command): the order flips and uses hyphens:

• Apporte-le-lui ce soir ! Negative imperative goes back to the normal preverbal order:
• Ne le lui apporte pas ce soir.

What do le and lui refer to here?

• le = the direct object (a masculine thing or idea being brought)
• lui = the indirect object (the person receiving it, meaning to him/to her)

The verb pattern is apporter quelque chose à quelqu’un, so quelque chose becomes le and à quelqu’un becomes lui.

Could I use y or en somewhere in this sentence?

• y can replace a place like au centre-ville. In theory you could say: Nous le lui y apportons ce soir, but stacking three pronouns sounds heavy and is usually avoided in everyday French. It’s more natural to keep the place phrase: Nous le lui apportons ce soir, au centre-ville.
• en replaces de + thing or a quantity, which doesn’t apply here.

Remember the order if you ever stack them: le/la/les → lui/leur → y → en.

Why does lui mean both him and her? How do I make it explicit?

French uses lui for both genders in the indirect object. To clarify gender or add emphasis, you can add a stressed pronoun after the verb:

• Nous le lui apportons ce soir, à elle.
• Nous le lui apportons ce soir, à lui. Using a name also helps: Nous le lui apportons ce soir, à Marie.

Why not just say à lui instead of lui?

With personal indirect objects, French requires the clitic pronoun (lui/leur) before the verb. À lui/à elle is optional for emphasis or clarification and comes after the verb. You cannot replace lui with à lui in the basic structure:

• Correct: Nous le lui apportons.
• Emphatic: Nous le lui apportons, à lui.
• Incorrect: Nous le à lui apportons.

Why is the present tense apportons used for something happening this evening?

French often uses the present to talk about scheduled or near-future events when there’s a time expression like ce soir. Alternatives:

• Futur proche: Nous allons le lui apporter ce soir.
• Futur simple (more formal/distant): Nous le lui apporterons ce soir.

Where do the pronouns go with the futur proche (aller + infinitive)?

They go before the infinitive:

• Affirmative: Nous allons le lui apporter ce soir.
• Negative: Nous n’allons pas le lui apporter ce soir.

How do I negate the original sentence?

Place ne … pas around the pronoun cluster and the verb:

• Nous ne le lui apportons pas ce soir au centre-ville. With vowel sounds, ne becomes n’: Nous n’allons pas le lui apporter…

Can I switch the order of ce soir and au centre-ville?

Yes. Both are common and correct:

• Nous le lui apportons ce soir au centre-ville.
• Nous le lui apportons au centre-ville ce soir. You can also front one for emphasis:
• Ce soir, nous le lui apportons au centre-ville.
• Au centre-ville, nous le lui apportons ce soir.

Is apporter the right verb for bring?

Use:

• apporter for bringing a thing
• amener for bringing a person/animal
• emporter for taking a thing away (from here to elsewhere)
• emmener for taking a person/animal away

Here, since the object is a thing being brought to someone, apporter is correct.

Why au centre-ville and not dans le centre-ville or en centre-ville?

• au centre-ville (à + le) is idiomatic and can mean to or in downtown.
• dans le centre-ville emphasizes being inside the downtown area.
• en centre-ville is also used in some varieties of French, especially in France, meaning in the downtown area, but some style guides prefer dans le centre-ville for clarity. All three are understood.

What happens in the passé composé, and does the past participle agree?

With avoir, the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object, not with an indirect object.

• Masculine DO: Nous le lui avons apporté.
• Feminine DO: Nous la lui avons apportée.
• Plural DO: Nous les lui avons apportés / apportées. No agreement with lui because it’s indirect.

Can I use on instead of nous?

Yes. In everyday French, on is more common for we:

• On le lui apporte ce soir au centre-ville. Remember the verb is 3rd person singular with on: on apporte.

How would I say this as a command?

Affirmative imperative (hyphens, DO before IO):

• Apporte-le-lui ce soir au centre-ville. (tu)
• Apportez-le-lui ce soir au centre-ville. (vous)
• Apportons-le-lui ce soir au centre-ville. (nous)

Negative imperative (back to preverbal order):

• Ne le lui apporte pas ce soir au centre-ville.