I think this is more a question about the use of lui, but there are some examples here that use it. Ils rient avec lui, pas de lui. They laugh with him, not at him.
How do we know lui is HIM and not just him/her without any other context. Do I just take the translation for what it is, or am I missing something fundamental? I find this to be so confusing. Thank you.
Eva,
The use of ' lui ' following a preposition is as a stress pronoun, and in this usage ' lui ' is always masculine, and ' elle ' is feminine singular.
The distinction with 3rd person stress pronouns in the plural is between ' eux ' and ' elles '
When used as an indirect object pronoun, ' lui ' can refer to either masculine or feminine and either you need the context to determine for yourself (which you will normally have), or accept a translation when/if provided, when it is a "fragment" in an exercise.
Moi/toi/lui/elle/soi/nous/vous/eux/elles - advanced usages (French Stress Pronouns)
Moi/toi/lui/elle = Me/you/him/her - simple cases (French Stress Pronouns)
Using lui/leur = him or her/them (French Indirect Object Pronouns)
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