Language/French/Grammar/Indirect-object-pronouns-used-in-possessive-constructions-with-body-parts

Indirect object pronouns used in possessive constructions with body parts

The indirect object pronouns are used in a possessive construction in French with 'body parts' where English would use possessive determiners (like 'my', 'your', 'his', 'her', etc.):

• On lui a cassé le bras

They broke his arm

• Elle s'était coupé le doigt

She had cut her finger

• La sueur me coulait dans le dos

Sweat was running down my back However, the indirect object construction is not possible with verbs which do not describe actions:

• Elle lui lave le visage

She is washing his face

BUT NOT:

• Elle lui aime le visage

RATHER:

• Elle aime son visage

She likes his face

This construction is also normally impossible with non-body-parts. However, it can be found in some regional varieties of French:

• Elle lui a cassé le magnétoscope

She broke his video recorder

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Exclamatives & Plurals in cardinal numbers.

Other Lessons

• Plurals of nouns ending in –al
• Negations
• Adjectifs possessifs
• Restrictions on possible combinations
• Comparative forms of adjectives
• Subject verb agreement — Verb agreement with collective noun subjects
• Position of object pronouns with voici and voilà
• Verbs with prepositions
• Measurements and comparisons Numbers with length, height, depth etc
• Plurals in cardinal numbers
• Often Mistaken Gender of Nouns
• Conditional Mood
• Homophones
• Verbs with intransitive and transitive uses
• Direct object quantifiers and « en »