{"id":7,"date":"2008-09-23T05:59:27","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T09:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=7"},"modified":"2008-09-23T05:59:27","modified_gmt":"2008-09-23T09:59:27","slug":"ella-elle-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/ella-elle-la\/","title":{"rendered":"Ella, Elle L’a"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest hits on European radio this summer has been Belgian singer Kate Ryan’s version of France Gall’s 1987 song Ella, Elle L’a<\/em>.\u00a0 The song is translated as \u2018Ella, She’s Got It’ and is a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald who was one of the most influential jazz singers in the 20th century.\u00a0 Click here to read the lyrics in French and roughly translated into English.<\/a><\/p>\n

The title and lyrics include a particular kind of pronoun, so I thought it would be fitting to discuss this a bit here.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you noticed that the translation sounds a bit odd in English.\u00a0 Although this kind of pronoun exists in the English language, we don’t usually repeat the subject in this manner.<\/p>\n

Ella, Elle<\/strong> L’a<\/em><\/p>\n

It is an example of what in French they call pronoms toniques<\/em>.\u00a0 In English, we normally refer to these stressed pronouns as disjunctive pronouns.\u00a0 You can break the song title down grammatically like this:<\/p>\n

Ella<\/span>, \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0elle<\/span><\/strong> l<\/span>‘\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a<\/span><\/p>\n

Subject + Disjunctive Pronoun + Object Pronoun + Verb<\/p>\n

Singular Disjunctive Pronouns<\/span>
\nmoi
\ntoi
\nlui, elle<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Plural Disjunctive Pronouns<\/span>
\nnous
\nvous
\neux, elles<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

They are used in isolated cases (as is the case here with the song title) to emphasize a noun or pronoun referring to a person.\u00a0 Here is another example:<\/p>\n

Moi<\/em><\/strong>, je chante le rock et <\/em>toi<\/em><\/strong>, qu’est-ce que tu chantes?<\/em><\/p>\n

They can also be used with the connectors et<\/em>, ou<\/em>, and ni<\/em> when a sentence has more than one subject or object.\u00a0 Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

Mes amis et moi<\/strong>, nous sommes all\u00e9s hier \u00e0 la discoth\u00e8que.
\nJe les aime bien, lui<\/strong> et elle<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another way to use them is after c’est <\/em>or ce sont<\/em>. \u00a0Here are two examples:<\/p>\n

Est-ce que c’est ton chanteur pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9\u00a0? – Oui, c’est lui<\/strong>.
\nCe sont elles<\/strong> qui chantent dans le film.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also, you can use these pronouns to replace subject pronouns when the verb is understood.\u00a0 For example:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Elle chante.\u00a0 – Nous<\/strong>, aussi. (Nous chantons aussi.)
\nElle chante mieux que vous<\/strong>.\u00a0 (Elle chante mieux que vous chantez.) <\/em><\/p>\n

And they can also be used after prepositions<\/span>.\u00a0 Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

C\u00e9line chante bien; je vais chanter avec<\/span> elle<\/strong>.
\nLes artistes sont toujours en tourn\u00e9e\u00a0; ils ne sont jamais chez<\/span> eux<\/strong>.
\nCe CD est \u00e0<\/span> lui<\/strong>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

On a side note, disjunctive pronouns can be used with m\u00eame(s)<\/em> <\/strong>for even more emphasis to insist upon someone’s identity.\u00a0 For example:
\n<\/em><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Elle a \u00e9crit la chanson elle-m\u00eame<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Watch Kate Ryan’s Ella elle l’a very modern music video.<\/p>\n