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I just learnt that the preposition pour could mean in regards to or as for from this website.

My question is the following: Can pour be used at the beginning of a sentence?
I am aware that we can begin a sentence with a prepositional phrase, well this is true at least for English. Assuming that this is true for French, there's no problem with beginning the sentence with pour.

For example, say if I wanted to say in French

In regards to her, I don't love her anymore.

I think the translation would be

Pour elle, je ne l'aime plus.

I also know that a stressed pronoun follows prepositions.

But Google Translates it as

En ce qui la concerne, je ne l'aime plus.

Which is correct? Is my translation correct or Google's or both?

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  • As a side remark. Normally, Je does not need a capital J as in the relevant English pronoun I, unless it starts a sentence. In a text like the Bible one may encounter Je in other cases with reference to God.
    – Dimitris
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 22:09

4 Answers 4

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"Pour vous rendre service, je vais répondre à votre question."

"Pour ne pas vous décevoir, je vais jouer cette sonate."

In your example, I would rather write

"Quant à elle, je ne l'aime plus."

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You can start your sentence with pour, but for your example, you cannot just say pour elle and have it mean as for her. That's because in pour elle, the object will be understood as the beneficiary of some action. It would either mean something like for her own good or from her point of view rather than in regards to her.

If you really want to start with pour, you can use pour ce qui, which will help avoid the misunderstanding:

Pour ce qui la concerne, ...

Pour ce qui est de cette femme, ...

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    pour elle, je ne l'aime plus could mean acording to her/ in her opinion, I don't love her anymore
    – Flying_whale
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 11:00
  • @Flying_whale thanks, added into answer
    – qoba
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 15:07
  • What does 'Pour ce qui la concerne,' and 'Pour ce qui est de cette femme,' mean ?
    – SFR
    Commented Apr 14, 2018 at 23:57
  • @CubbyKushi "Pour ce qui la concerne" = As regards her; "Pour ce qui est de cette femme" = As for this woman
    – qoba
    Commented Apr 15, 2018 at 4:27
  • Do you mean 'As regards to her'?
    – SFR
    Commented Apr 16, 2018 at 15:09
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Pour elle, je ferais n'importe quoi is correct.

Pour elle, je ne l'aime plus doesn't have the meaning you want in french (in another context, that could mean that she thinks you don't love her anymore).

Google's version is more accurate. But as Bernard Massé suggested, Quant à elle works too.

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Sentences originally adopted from: "A French Reference Grammar" by H. Ferrar and slightly modified by me. But see also the remarks of @jlliagre in the associated comments.

Pour (among the many meanings) may express personal concern:

Pour ma part, je m'abstiendrai. Personally, I shall abstain.

It may start a phrase when it also expresses:

  1. By way of:

Pour couverture il avait un sac. For a blanket he had a sack. (As @jlliagre suggests, it is better here to use comme couverture.)

  1. Considering

Pour son âge/pour un enfant, il lit bien.

  1. Purpose

Pour le terminer, il faut s’entraîner.

Pour n'être pas vu, il nous faut sortir la nuit. (As @jlliagre remarks it is better to use pour ne pas être vu instead.)

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  • Il n'avait pour couverture qu'un sac is fine but I prefer to use comme instead of pour in comme couverture, il avait un sac. Are you sure "guide" translates sac? Unless the plan is to train to finish off (i.e. kill) people or animals, better to write pour le terminer, il faut s'entraîner instead of achever. Use pour ne pas être vu instead of pour n'être pas vu.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 23:02
  • The examples (with some slight modifications) are from my (classic:-)!) reference: A French Reference Grammar, p. 285, H. Ferrar (Oxford University Press, 1967, reprinted with corrections 1988).
    – Dimitris
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 23:13
  • For instance the author has a whole subsection for pour and its uses. For purpose he gives as an example pour l'achever et c'est moi qui remplis la phrase avec il faut s'entraîner. Concernant le premier exemple j'ai fait une faute. Je vais le corriger. Merci. En revanche, pour n'être pas vu, je l'ai vu dans le livre. Je remplis la phrase avec il nous faut sortir la nuit. Je vous fais confiance quand même. Je vais modifier la structure:-)!
    – Dimitris
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 23:13
  • I missed another issue: pour moi, je m'abstiendrai should definitely be pour ma part, je m'abstiendrai. By the way, pour n'être pas vu is not incorrect, it just sounds old fashioned or posh. This might be obvious but it's either pour son age or pour un enfant, not both in the same sentence.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 23:33
  • Je crois devoir changer le livre et consulter un autre:-)! Pour moi j'abstiendrai` je l'ai vu dans le livre. Je pense qu'il y a une faute (il manque le prénom réflexif me comme tu indique). En plus, tu as raison pour le pléonasme. Mais c'est un exemple du livre de nouveau...Je vais le modifier.
    – Dimitris
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 23:40

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