"Qui sait ce que je serais devenue sans lui ?"

Translation: Who knows what I would have become without him?

[seanxluong]

I still lose a heart with "devenu" (July 2014). This is really annoying :(.

[seanachie]

'Who knows what would have become of me' is a far more natural translation than the one given.

[kanielc]

Is "without her" wrong here? If yes, what can I learn? :)

[ferynn]

Yes, it is wrong. "Sans lui" = Without him; Without her = "Sans elle"

[longgone]

Thanks, but when is it okay to use "lui" for female??

[noonook-nooky]

when "lui" is before the verb, it can be used fr both male and female:
"je lui ai demande" = I asked him/ I asked her

When it is after the verbe it is male only: "je demande ma route sans lui" = I ask for directions without him.
"je demande ma route sans elle" = I ask for directions without her.

In French, we make the distinction when the "lui" is the recipient of the action (called COI or complement d'objet indirect) and when it is used for something different.

I asked Helen (whom) for directions (what) = I asked her for directions = Je lui (whom/COI) ai demande ma route (what/COD) = J'ai demande ma route a Helen
the "a Helen" is the COI, the recipient of the action...

[ThanKwee]

See this excellent explanation by nightshifted.

http://www.duolingo.com/comment/527307

[albans]

Why is it devenue ? I wrote devenu and got it wrong.

[ThanKwee]

"Devenu" should have been accepted. We can't tell if the person speaking is a female or a male.

[hieung89]

Someone explains to me "serais vs aurais" please!

[HallieGray]

Remember that the passé composé uses avoir in conjugation most of the time (as in "il a eu" or "vous avez dit") but some words (like devenir) use "être" - so "je suis devenu quelque chose" or "je serais devenu un avocat". That's all that's going on here