Looking for a French word, please?

Question

HI ~

The phrase "elle lui dit" means "she said to him"....does it not?

If so, how do you say "she said to her" ....?

Or is there something else I should know?

Thank you in advance
Scots Pines

Answer 1

You actually use lui for both "to him" and "to her", so you're good just leaving it like that.

Answer 2

I am French and hope that I can give you an useful answer.

There is no difference for us between:
She said to him & She said to her

We actually can't make the gender distinction, except if the name of the person addressed to is mentioned.
Example:
Elle a dit à Marc (him)
Elle a dit à Caroline (her)

In fact, our language does not allow us to use the form: Elle a dit à elle. It would be more precise, we concede, but we never use this form. It is incorrect in French because we never put the pronoun after the verb.
Instead, we insert "lui", which is the pronoun for "him" or "her", before the verb.
Example:
Elle lui a dit... > She told him/her...

Hope that was useful...
Very interesting linguistic question...

Answer 3

Bonjour,

....elle lui dit: (Then)...she says to him (present).

She said to him = Elle lui a dit (past of "verbe auxiliaire avoir")
She said to her = Elle lui a dit ( in this case "lui" is correct both for "her" and for "him).

It is understood that it's speaking about the person mentioned before, the name of the girl.
Elle dit à Nicolette": She said to Nicolette.

Common and incorrect language would be : Elle lui a dit, à elle.
à = to.

Answer 4

Elle lui dit or elle lui a dit = She said to him/her.

"Lui" may be a woman or a man.

Answer 5

Elle lui dit means she SAYS to him/her.

Elle lui A dit means she SAID to him/her.

Answer 6

aye that's right.

"she said to her" is 'elle lui a dit' too.

Therefore, we can't know if you are talking about a guy or a girl...only the context can tell.

Answer 7

Elle lui dit means she says it to him/her or she tells him/her.

Answer 8

''Elle lui dit'' = She tells him/her or She says to him/her

''She said to her'' would be ''Elle lui a dit....'' in the past.

''Lui'' can mean both ''him and her'' when it is used as an indirect pronoun = TO him and TO her in English. If it's just ''him'', it would be ''lui'' and just ''her'', it would be ''elle''

Examples:

That's him! = C'est lui!
Who did you give it to? (À qui l'as-tu donné?) = I gave it to her = Je LUI ai donné, à elle. (as to make an emphasis)

In response to Nicolette's answer:

Adding ''à elle'' or ''à lui'' IS colloquial language but not necessarily incorrect. It is primarily used to clarify the subject and/or to make the emphasis that ''I gave it to HER and not TO HIM.'' They do the same in Spanish where it has been officially accepted in the grammar.

Answer 9

"The phrase 'elle lui dit' means 'she said to him'....does it not?"

No, this means "She says to him/her" or "She is saying to him/her."

To say "She said to him/her," you say "Elle lui a dit."

Answer 10

elle a dit à elle

or something like that