# FR: I am going to give it to him/her



## garavak

Hello!
I'm confused as to where "to him" should be placed in the sentence. 
I am going to give it to him: Je vais le lui donner. OR Je vais le donner à lui. Are both correct?

Thanks,

Chuck


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## DaiSmallcoal

not a native speaker , but the (simple) "le" comes before the compound "lui" , so 
"je vais le lui donner"  
and lui "includes" the sense of  "to" in this context so I don't think you would have "à lui" here . 

only in the sense of "c'est à toi ? non c'est à lui (it's his = it's to him = posessive )    

Dai  apprentis


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## charcholle

Hello!
Both are correct, but we almost always use 'je vais le lui donner'. 
The other way is used if you use the name/description of the person. For instance: je vais le donner a Marc / a mon patron...


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## sandera

charcholle said:


> Hello!
> Both are correct, but we almost always use 'je vais le lui donner'.
> The other way is used if you use the name/description of the person. For instance: je vais le donner a Marc / a mon patron...


Bonjour,
Re-  je vais le lui donner. (to him)
I can't think of how to say (to her)
I just can't think this morning
Je vais la lui donner?????
S.


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## charcholle

Hi Sandera,
to her, it would still be 'je vais le lui donner'. 'le' refers to the thing you're giving, not to who you're giving it. So if the object is feminine, it will be 'je vais la lui donner'. For example : je vais donner la fourchette a Marie' = I'm going to give the fork to Marie = je vais la lui donner.
Hope this helps...


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## bassoonery

Hi! I've been learning about pronouns at school and have been taught that the pronouns always go before the verb. But I have a problem because sometimes there is more than one verb in a sentence (like modal auxiliaries) and for me it sometimes sounds better to put the pronoun in between two verbs as in my examples below. Is this wrong or have I just misunderstood the rule?

'Je vais le lui donner' - I am going to give it to him. Should it be 'Je le vais lui donner', 'Je le lui vais donner' or my original idea?

What about Je l'ai vendu or J'ai le vendu?

This is probably a very silly easy question but I go round in circles thinking it out for myself!


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## FranParis

Je vais - I'm going, lui donner, to give him, - the money, l'argent.

Now that you know it's the money:

Je vais,* le* (refering to the money) lui donner - I'm going to give *it* to him

Apply the same rule to *vendre*.


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## itka

bassoonery said:


> Hi! I've been learning about pronouns at school and have been taught that the pronouns always go before the verb. But I have a problem because sometimes there is more than one verb in a sentence (like modal auxiliaries) and for me it sometimes sounds better to put the pronoun in between two verbs as in my examples below. Is this wrong or have I just misunderstood the rule?
> 
> 'Je vais le lui donner' - I am going to give it to him. Should it be 'Je le vais lui donner', 'Je le lui vais donner' or my original idea?
> 
> What about Je l'ai vendu or J'ai le vendu?
> 
> This is probably a very silly easy question but I go round in circles thinking it out for myself!



I think you're perfectly right !

And in negative form :
je ne vais pas le lui donner
je ne l'ai pas vendu(e)


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## David

Je vais _le lui_ donner
Je l'ai vendu


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## bassoonery

itka said:


> I think you're perfectly right !
> 
> And in negative form :
> je ne vais pas le lui donner
> je ne l'ai pas vendu(e)


 
Thanks, and every one else! Glad to see my instinct was right but I'm still quite confused. Why is it right to put the pronouns before donner in the first example and wrong to put them before vendu in the second? Is it to do with the tense of the sentence?

And sorry about the need to change the title. I _did_ try!


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## Pipsy

Yes, it is to do with the tense of the sentences.
The pronouns go directly before the infinitive in the "futur proche" and before the auxilary avoir (ai) in the passé composé.


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## bassoonery

> The pronouns go directly before the infinitive in the "futur proche" and before the auxilary avoir (ai) in the passé composé


 
I see! That's exactly what I needed - thanks!


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## Raylin

The easiest way to remember it is to think of the auxiliary as part of the verb. You always put the pronoun before the verb that's acting on it (so in 'I want to give him a gift' you'd put lui before 'donner' rather than 'veux') With a tense that includes an auxiliary verb, the pronoun goes with the auxiliary, because that's still part of the verb.


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## Aoyama

'Je le lui vais donner' is obsolete French, but was correct until the end of the 18th century and very common during the 16-17th century. See also at *Je vais / j'y vais* (humbly), my post # 3.


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