# FR: je te me lui - pronom explétif, datif éthique/d'intérêt



## Icetrance

Bonjour,

Why does it mean when someone says "me te lui" in this order?

_ 20 ans de galère je *te me lui* foutrais!

Je *te me lui (leur)* enverrai un mail.

Je vais *te me lui *régler son compte à ce professeur grincheux._ 

I don't understand this.

Does it mean "*for all of us*"?

When "_te me lui_" is used, "je" is always the subject (so it seems).


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## Ayoup

C'est une formulation orale, très expressive, mais pas correcte à l'écrit.

"Je te me lui enverrais un mail" -> I would really like to send an email to him, and I'm telling you, it's lucky I'm not going to/can't, because that would have been ugly/bad/violent.

"20 ans de galère je te me lui foutrais!" -> If I dared/didn't restrain myself/let my anger out/was in position to, I'd send him 20 years in a galley.


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## judkinsc

Interesting expression if it means "I'd really like to (but I can't)".

_ Je vais *te me lui *régler son compte à ce professeur grincheux._ 

"I'd really like to settle the score with this grumpy professor" is my guess.

"Galère" is "slave labor". "I'd give him twenty years of slave labor."


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## Icetrance

I only ever see "te me lui/leur", and never in any other order. Like I said before, "je" always seems to be the subject. I've never seen the combination "vous me lui/leur" either.

I thought it meant "for all of us" (not literally, but just as a way stress the subject "I"). 

Je vais *te me lui *régler son compte à ce prof grincheux = *I *am going to give this grouchy teacher a taste of his own medicine *(for all of us*).

 I could be wrong, but that's what I thought.


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## judkinsc

It sounds somewhat familiar to my ear, maybe a bit of early 20th-century slang was like it...something like a boxing analogy.

"I'd really like to one-two-three that old professor"


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## Lil_Dave

It's very familiar and oral, the 'te me' is only there to involve the interlocutor, to take him as a witness...


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## Nil-the-Frogg

I agree with Ayoup's explanation.


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## Icetrance

Lil_Dave said:


> It's very familiar and oral, the 'te me' is only there to involve the interlocutor, to take him as a witness...


 
Je pense que tu as bien raison. Le sens, cela paraît être: prendre l'interlocuteur à témoin. 

Je ne vois que la combinaison «te me», seulement suivi du sujet «je».

Je vais *te me* lui dire mon fait = I'm going to give him a piece of my mind with you as my witness

une définition possible, àmha = "toi et moi ensemble, mais c'est moi qui fais/ferai l'action et toi le témoin de ceci." 

Je ne peux pas le comprendre autrement.


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## weird me

j'vais t' me lui expliquer c'que ça veut dire les "te me lui" : lol

that means, that once you read this sentence, you get it!
it means you cannot miss the meaning of what it means...


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## Icetrance

Thanks a lot!

I'm going to explain to him once and for all what the "te me lui" means.???

Si je disais,  "Je vais te me lui régler son compte", cela veut dire quoi le "te me"? Perhaps, "une fois pour toute" ?


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## weird me

je vais te me lui régler son compte, means une fois pour toute yes, 

JE VAIS TE ME LUI REGLER SON COMPTE

imagine the person has tried before to "règler son compte" to "LUI" 
and has decided that finally he is going to succeed in "lui règler son compte": (the "me" is repeated) the "te" means he is like having someone witnessing. Hope I am clear

it means the person is super determined

Je Verb "te me lui" ETC : Je is determined, stubborn, or angry


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## Xavier11222

The reflexive seems to be used sometimes in French to express the intensive (see se boire une bière, se manger une pizza)
so indeed


weird me said:


> it means the person is super determined


(the _me_ is here the reflexive pronoun).

You could say _Je vais te le faire taire_ - "I'm going to shut him up for you/in front of you" or_ Je vais te la faire chanter, cette guitare - "_Bear witness_ as _I'm going to make it sing, this guitar" (of course these are poor translations, as the "te me la" group is only present in spoken vernacular.

_Je vais te me le_ is only the three pronouns put together: in



> _Je *te me leur* enverrai un mail_


_,_
"leur" is quite obviously the object pronoun (I will send an email to them)
"me" is the reflexive, used as an intensive
"te" is that other form of intensive, mentionning the interlocutor


> to take him as a witness



Note that they have to be in this order partly for accentuation purposes; the indirect object pronoun will always be last, and the reflexive will follow the object (I can't think of any other cases in which you'll have a reflexive and a direct object pronoun, though)


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## Icetrance

I really appreciate your help Weird Me and Xavier11222!

Le "me" souligne le "Je"
lui/leur = le pronom indirect (bien évident)

C'est bien le "te" que je n'arrive pas à comprendre comme je voudrais.

 Je te me lui enverrai un mail =  *I*'ll show you/ya that I'll send him/her an email.

20 ans de galère je te me lui foutrais! = *I*'d show you ya that I'd give him/her 20 years in the galley.

Je vais te le faire taire =  I'll show you/ya how I'm going to make him get quiet (no stress on the "je" as there is no reflexivce).

Couldn't you say "Je vais te me le faire taire"?

I once saw "Il te me lui ferait une bise s'il pouvait" = He'll give him or her a kiss for you and for me.

I never see the combination "vous me lui/leur", nor this string of pronouns followed by any other subject than "je."

However, in this case, there is no reflexive pronoun: Il te me lui ferait une bise s'il pouvait = He'll give him or her a kiss for you and for me.


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## Xavier11222

Icetrance said:


> I once saw "Il te me lui ferait une bise s'il pouvait"


 
Great example! 
Now _me _can't be said to be reflexive, for sure. Still, I'd tend to see it as a remnant of an intensive: you'll have to translate the sentence as _He'd try and kiss her if he could_ or _He'd shurr wuddn't mind givin'er a kiss_ or something like that. There's no _For you and me_ - "te" and "me" only intensify the verb.


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## Icetrance

Je pense avoir bien compris, mais je ne sais plus si ceci est le cas.

Dans cette série de pronoms, il n'est pas ce troisième pronom qui pose problème pour moi. (lui/leur/le/la)

Dans, "Je vais *te me* lui enverrai ce mail!", la combinaison "te me" n'est pas là que pour mettre l'accent sur le verbe à la différence de la phrase ""Il *te me* lui ferait une bise s'il pouvait" où la combinaison pronominale "te me" n'a pas autre sens que de renforcer le sens du verbe.

Le pronom "te" dans "Je vais te le faire taire" semble vouloir dire "I'll make him get quiet *for you/ya alright*."

for you alright = you'll see for sure that (tu verras bien que...)


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## telgo

This is actually pretty well-known in syntax studies. The form is called the Ethical, sometimes Ethical Dative. It's something like the Benefactive, although there are differences. Most commonly used with first and second person clitics, it is a way of stressing the involvement of the first or third person in some sort of emotional attachment. Here is a Catalan example:
No *me* li diguis que calli.
Don't tell me him to shut up, or perhaps
Don't go telling him to shut up on me.

[I have technical references, in case anyone is interested.]


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