Verb+a+pronoun

[Peter Jones]

here's my question: (sorry can't do the grave accent)

 

1) parler a = je leur parle

2) dire a = je leur dis

3) téléphoner a = je leur téléphone

4) penser a = je pense a eux

 

Why?

[Neil Coffey]

One explanation is that in cases like 1-3, you are attributing "human" properties to the person reprsented by "leur". In (4), you're using a verb where the complement would usually be non-human, and in such cases the "non-human" construction carries over. You'll find other examples, e.g. "Je vais m'habituer/l'habituer à lui", "Je le compare à lui". Incidentally, using "y" is often possible to refer to a human in such cases, just as it would normally be used to refer to a non-human.

Incidentally, there is also a systematic constraint that "me", "te" etc (the clitics that can be "reflexive") aren't used alongside lui/leur. So this gives rise to cases such as "Je me présente à lui".

[Peter Jones]

Thank you Neil, that's really helpful.