Connaitre

1] Je le connais.

2] Je lui connais.

I know him.

What is the correct one?

How do you say ' I know about him'?
I know the words 'sur' and 'environ' generally means 'about'.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on January 20, 2010 at 10:20pm

1) is the correct one.

lui stands for an indirect object (e.g. "to him"), while le is a direct object.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on January 20, 2010 at 10:24pm

How do you say ' I know about him'?

For some reason, Je le connais and Je le connais bien are two common expressions we use to say this.

The later is the most common one.

The former usually introduces something cynical, ironical or suspicious about the person you are talking about.

Je le connais, il va tuer sa femme (his wrong doings suggest that he's bound to do it)
Je le connais bien (he's a good friend)

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Permalink Reply by sidney falco on January 21, 2010 at 7:29pm

How would you translate "I know something about him"?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on January 21, 2010 at 7:31pm

Je sais quelque chose sur lui.
Je sais quelque chose à son sujet.

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Permalink Reply by Crack1 on January 21, 2010 at 9:14pm

Thanks Frank

Je le connais.
I know him.

Je le connais bien.
I know him well.

I know about him differs from I know him well.

For example, I know Frank means that I can tell you something as to what Frank is doing for a living and it is possible I met him a couple of times.

I know about Frank means I am not in a position to tell you anything as to him.
Probably I heard from some other person as to Frank. Simply speaking I know he exists. No details.

So how do you say in French 'I know about him'.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on January 21, 2010 at 10:22pm

I know about Frank means I am not in a position to tell you anything as to him.
Probably I heard from some other person as to Frank. Simply speaking I know he exists. No details.

J'ai entendu parler de Frank ? (you've heard about him).

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on January 22, 2010 at 5:12am

The thing about "know about" is it's very vague. It can imply things like: On m'a dit ce qui s'est passé avec Frank, Je suis au courrant du problème de Frank etc-- I think almost inevitably, you end up saying something more specific in French depending on the exact situation. And indeed, j'ai entendu parler de Frank is one of the possible interpretations.

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Permalink Reply by Crack1 on January 22, 2010 at 10:59am

I know about Sarkozy. This is correct.

I know Sarkozy. This is wrong. I just heard that he is the President of France.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on January 22, 2010 at 11:05am

Hence, J'ai entendu parler de Sarkozy would be the closest way to say it.

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Permalink Reply by Crack1 on January 22, 2010 at 6:42pm

Thanks Frank

J'ai entendu parler de Sarkozy.
I heard about Sarkozy.

4] J'ai entendu parler de lui.
I heard about him.
I hope the 4th sentence is fine.
Please tell me.

Permalink Reply by Frank on January 22, 2010 at 6:56pm

It is :)

Permalink Reply by michael douglas russell on February 12, 2010 at 10:26pm

Sorry to break in but I have been wondering about this particular construction for a while. If asked, "Tu as entendu parler de Sarkozy?", why are the first two following responses correct and not the third.
Oui, j'en ai entendu parler
Oui, j'ai entendu parler de lui
Oui, je lui ai entendu parler.

I think this is me just confusing stressed vs indirect object pronouns but I can't quite put this together.
Merci d'avance,
Michael Russell