Et lui de rire: how the French narrative infinitive tells an event

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read et lui de rire as a narrative event. Identify its actor, compare de + infinitive complements and requests, then check four short examples.

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In short

Et lui de rire means “and he laughed” or “and he began laughing”. This narrative infinitive names an actor, then uses de + infinitive to tell what happens. Its time comes from the surrounding story.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A man begins laughing during a relaxed discussion with two friends at a small French café table.
Paul’s reaction gives et lui de rire a scene. Illustration: Atelier

Hear the reaction in a short scene

Une proposition inattendue
  1. Narration

    Nora proposa de reprendre la discussion depuis le début.

    Nora suggested starting the discussion again from the beginning.

  2. Nora

    Cette fois, nous serons d’accord !

    This time, we’ll agree!

  3. Narration

    Et Paul de rire. Il venait de passer une heure à défendre son avis.

    And Paul began laughing. He had just spent an hour defending his opinion.

  4. Paul

    Tu veux vraiment tout reprendre ?

    Do you really want to go over everything again?

  5. Narration

    Nora insista, et les autres de protester.

    Nora insisted, and the others protested.

Paul laughs; les autres protest. The infinitives stay rire and protester, even though one actor is singular and the other plural. The surrounding proposa and insista establish the past narrative.

What does et lui de rire mean?

Actor + de + infinitive
Narrative wordingActorPlain past paraphrase
Et lui de rire.luiIl se mit à rire.
Et chacun de protester.chacunChacun protesta.
Et nous d’applaudir.nousNous applaudîmes.

With a personal pronoun, the actor takes a stressed form such as lui rather than il. Before a vowel, de becomes d’: d’applaudir. The construction often gives a lively reaction, but “began” is a translation choice; a simple past such as “protested” can fit.

What are the uses of de + infinitive?

Et elle de répondre.And she answered.

Focus: A new event in the account; no finite governing verb.

acteur + de + infinitif

Elle décide de répondre.She decides to answer.

Focus: Décide is a finite verb selecting an infinitive complement.

décider de + infinitif

Merci de répondre.Please reply.

Focus: A request to the reader or listener.

merci de + infinitif

In an ordinary message, Il a ri or Ils ont protesté gives the event directly. The narrative infinitive belongs to expressive storytelling. Et les autres de protester tells their reaction; a command would address them with Protestez !

Question 1No account needed
Who laughs?Elle insista, et lui de rire.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Lui.. Lui names the actor of rire. Elle is the subject of the preceding action.

Question 2No account needed
Which phrase contains an infinitive complement of a finite verb?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Elle décide de répondre.. The finite verb décide selects de répondre as its complement.

Question 3No account needed
Choose the finite past paraphrase.Et les autres de protester.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Les autres protestèrent.. Protestèrent reports the others’ action in the past; the other options change it into obligation or a command.

Question 4No account needed
Which pronoun fits the narrative pattern?Et ___ de rire.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

lui. The actor takes the stressed pronoun lui: et lui de rire.

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