Learn Hardcore French: Pendant la consultation, il lui donne une ordonnance pour un sirop et lui dit de se reposer. - During the appointment, he gives her a prescription for a syrup and tells her to rest.

Il donne une ordonnance à Marie. → Il lui donne une ordonnance. (He gives her a prescription.)
Il dit à Paul de se reposer. → Il lui dit de se reposer. (He tells him to rest.)

French uses the same form (lui) for both to him and to her. Only context tells you whether it’s masculine or feminine.

It’s indirect because the verb takes à quelqu’un (to someone):

donner à quelqu’un
dire à quelqu’un

So lui = à lui / à elle.

Why is the word order il lui donne and not il donne lui?

With a conjugated verb in French, object pronouns usually go before the verb:

il lui donne (he gives him/her)
il lui dit (he tells him/her)
je lui parle (I speak to him/her)

You cannot say ✗ il donne lui with the same meaning; that sounds wrong in standard French.

So the pattern is:

subject + object pronoun(s) + conjugated verb
il + lui + donne

Why is lui repeated in et lui dit de se reposer? Could we just say et dit de se reposer?

You need lui again because the second verb dire also has the complement à quelqu’un.

Il lui donne une ordonnance (He gives him/her a prescription)
et (il) lui dit de se reposer (and (he) tells him/her to rest)

If you say et dit de se reposer without lui, it sounds incomplete and unnatural, a bit like saying in English:
“...he gives a prescription for a syrup and tells to rest.” (tells who?)

The subject (il) can be omitted in speech after et, but the object pronoun (lui) cannot be dropped here.

What exactly does pendant la consultation mean, and why pendant instead of something else?

Pendant la consultation means “during the consultation / during the appointment” (with the doctor).

pendant
- period of time = during
  - pendant la nuit – during the night
  - pendant les vacances – during the holidays
  - pendant la consultation – during the consultation

Alternatives:

durant la consultation – very similar, a bit more formal/literary.
lors de la consultation – “at the time of / during”, also more formal.

Here, pendant is the most neutral, everyday choice.

Why is it la consultation, not une consultation or sa consultation?

French uses the definite article (le / la / les) more often than English when both speakers know what event is being referred to.

Pendant la consultation ≈ “During the (doctor’s) appointment”
The consultation is specific: the one they’re currently having.

You could say:

Pendant une consultation – “During a consultation (in general / any consultation)”
Pendant sa consultation – “During his/her consultation” (emphasising whose it is)

But in a story where we’re already talking about this doctor’s visit, la consultation is the natural default.

What does une ordonnance mean here, and why is it feminine (une)?

In this context, une ordonnance means a medical prescription — the paper (or electronic document) the doctor gives you so you can get medicine at the pharmacy.

grammatical gender: ordonnance is feminine, so:
- une ordonnance
- la ordonnance → l’ordonnance (with elision)

This is unrelated to English “ordinance” (a regulation / law). Same Latin origin, but different modern meanings.

So il lui donne une ordonnance = “he gives him/her a prescription.”

What does pour un sirop mean? Why un sirop and not du sirop?

Pour un sirop literally means “for a syrup”, in practice “for a (bottle of) syrup”.

une ordonnance pour un sirop = a prescription for a specific syrup medicine.

Un sirop here treats sirop as a countable item (one syrup, one bottle/medicine).

If you say:

pour du sirop – “for some syrup” (more general, not a specific medicine)
pour le sirop – “for the syrup” (a specific syrup already known in the context)

So un sirop is natural when the doctor prescribes one medicine in syrup form.

Why is it pour un sirop and not de sirop?

The preposition changes the meaning:

pour + noun → “for [a/this] [thing]” (intended use / recipient)
- une ordonnance pour un sirop – prescription for a syrup
- un médicament pour la toux – medicine for cough
de + noun often means “of / made of / some”
- une cuillère de sirop – a spoonful of syrup
- une bouteille de sirop – a bottle of syrup

Here we’re not describing the quantity or content, but the purpose of the prescription (it is for a syrup), so pour is correct.

Why is it de se reposer and not à se reposer or just se reposer?

The structure comes from the verb dire:

dire à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose
- Il lui dit de se reposer.
  → He tells him/her to rest.

So the pattern is:

dire + à quelqu’un + de + infinitive

Other verbs that use this pattern:
demander à quelqu’un de faire, dire à quelqu’un de venir, conseiller à quelqu’un de + infinitive.

You wouldn’t say ✗ il lui dit à se reposer; that’s ungrammatical. The required preposition before the infinitive is de, not à, with dire à quelqu’un.

Why is se reposer reflexive if it just means “to rest”?

In French, many everyday verbs are reflexive where English uses a simple verb:

se reposer – to rest
se laver – to wash (oneself)
se coucher – to go to bed

Se is the reflexive pronoun used with il/elle/on, but in the infinitive form it always appears as se, no matter who the subject will be:

Je dois me reposer. – I must rest.
Tu dois te reposer. – You must rest.
Il doit se reposer. – He must rest.

In il lui dit de se reposer, the subject of se reposer is lui (the patient), but because it’s an infinitive, it keeps the base form se reposer.

Why are the verbs in the present tense (il lui donne, lui dit) if this is a story about the past?

French often uses the présent de narration (historical/narrative present) to make a story feel more vivid, even if the events are in the past.

Pendant la consultation, il lui donne une ordonnance...
feels like you are watching it happen right now.

You could also use the past:

Pendant la consultation, il lui a donné une ordonnance pour un sirop et lui a dit de se reposer.

Both are correct; the difference is stylistic:

présent → more immediate, dynamic
passé composé → straightforward past narration

Can the position of pendant la consultation change? For example, can I say Il lui donne, pendant la consultation, une ordonnance...?

Yes, you can move pendant la consultation:

Pendant la consultation, il lui donne une ordonnance... (most natural)
Il lui donne une ordonnance pendant la consultation... (also fine)
Il lui donne, pendant la consultation, une ordonnance... (possible; a bit heavier, more written style)

French is fairly flexible with time expressions like pendant la consultation. Putting it at the beginning is very common and clear.

How would the sentence change if the doctor is talking to several patients instead of one?

You would need the plural indirect object pronoun leur (“to them”):

Pendant la consultation, il leur donne une ordonnance pour un sirop et leur dit de se reposer.

Changes:

lui (to him/her) → leur (to them)
Verbs stay in the 3rd person singular (il donne, il dit) because there is still one doctor doing the actions. Only the pronoun for the patients changes.