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I know that if I want to say "I want him to give me a massage" in French, I have to instead say "I want that he gives me a massage":

Je veux qu'il donne à moi un massage.

But I'm having trouble translating a similar sentence:

It's him that I want to give me a massage.

My first attempt to start is "C'est lui que/qui"..

  • that is my first problem: I'm not sure if I should use "que" or "qui", because the "him" referring to guy who I want to give me a massage seems to be both a subject and an object:
    • It is him who I want, the relative pronoun "who" seems to be an object: "C'est lui que je veux"
    • "him to give me a massage", when changed to the French construction, becomes: "that he gives me a massage"; and this construction makes "him" a subject

Continuing my attempt, I would try to say:

"C'est lui que/qui je veux ... qu'il donne à moi un massage"??!

That is, "It's him that I want that he gives me a massage"?? In English, this sentence doesn't make sense. So, I'm stuck.

Question:

How do I translate "I want him to give me a massage" in French?

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4 Answers 4

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5

I'd say:

Je veux que ce soit lui qui me fasse un massage.

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4
  • oh, I didn't think of changing the order like you do here: "I want that it's him who gives me a massage". Is there a French sentence that still starts with "It's him", as in the original sentence that I am asking about?
    – silph
    Commented Jan 29, 2018 at 15:57
  • @silph “C’est lui que je veux comme masseur” could do.
    – Pas un clue
    Commented Jan 29, 2018 at 15:59
  • @Feelew lol, okay. It does sidestep the grammar construction used in the English, but it is good to know of your suggestion as a possible translation, anyways.
    – silph
    Commented Jan 29, 2018 at 16:01
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    If you insist sticking to the English construction, you might say C'est lui que je veux pour me masser.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Jan 29, 2018 at 16:15
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The most literal translation is the one in Toto's answer: "Je veux que ce soit lui qui me fasse un massage."

However, if you want to put even more emphasis on "him", and put "C'est lui" at the beginning of the sentence, then I suggest giving yourself a little bit more freedom and changing the structure of the sentence.

For instance:

C'est de lui dont je veux un massage. (It's from him that I want a massage.)

C'est lui que je veux comme masseur. (It's him I want as my masseur.)

C'est lui que je veux pour me masser. (It's him I want to massage me.)

C'est lui que je veux pour un massage. (It's him I want for a massage.)

C'est avec lui que je veux un massage. (It's with him that I want a massage.)

I think this order of words reflects the way people talk more than "Je veux que ce soit lui". People tend to start saying "C'est lui que je veux" first (It's him I want), and think about how to end the sentence after.

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1

Je souhaite que ce soit lui qui me masse

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1

tout simplement: Je veux qu'il me fasse un massage.

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