When is "Lui" used as the subject?
I'm learning French without paying much attention to the rules of grammar, but sometimes a point of grammar catches my attention. This is one.
I believe that it would be correct, when speaking of one person, to say:
Il va visiter la France,
and if I'm speaking of two people, it becomes:
Ils vont visiter la France,
but if identify the two people separately, it becomes:
Lui et son ami vont visiter la France.
Since the same person is still the subject, why is it not:
Il et son ami vont visiter la France.
Why does the pronoun change from "Il" to "Lui" in this context, and are there other situations where something similar happens?

Question

Answer

Well actually it would be more correct and polite to say "Son ami et lui". So, "lui" is like "him", it's a "COD", because you need to ask "his friend and who? Him" : "son ami et qui ? et lui".
Hope it helps you.

Answer

Thanks for all the replies. I think that Amelie has pointed me ion the right direction when she pointed out that it is a "promo tonique" or stressed pronoun. I hadn't heard that term, so I have now followed it up, and she is clearly right. The one thing to add to her answer is that it is not just after a conjunction, but before or after a conjunction, and as either the subject or direct object in the sentence. So I now realise that it would similarly be "toi et moi" rather than "tu et je", etc. The most thorough list of the uses of stressed pronouns that I found was at https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/stressed-pronouns/

Answer

I agree you have to say : son ami et lui. And it's because of it, you have to use "lui" which is here " un pronom tonique". You can use them in many situations and one of them it's after some  linking word /conjunction ( in your sentence "et").

Answer

Comme Audrey l'a fait remarquer, on ne dit jamais "lui et son ami", c'est "son ami et lui". Il est vrai que, grammaticalement, on devrait dire "son ami et il", mais bon, même un anglophone comme toi voit bien que ça sonne faux. 2 voyelles à la suite !!! On ne dit pas "que a-t-il fait", mais "qu'a-t-il fait ?". C'est pareil. Et "lui" n'est pas complément d'objet direct, le verbe c'est visiter, et le complément d'objet direct, c'est "la France". Sachant que la phrase est "son ami et lui vont visiter la France".

Answers · 5

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