Y et En
Y and en are both pronouns that go before the verb. Y(ee)means it or there.
En(awn) means some or some
(of them), or of it. They replace prepositional phrases.
In French, the phrases will begin with à (or any contraction
of it), en, sur, sous, chez, or dans for y; and de
(or any contraction of it)or a number for en.
They cannot replace people unless the person is introduced with
an indefinite article, partitive, number or quantity. Remember that
they go before the verb, except in a command, in which they follow
the verb and are connected with a hyphen. The -er verbs also add the
-s they lost when forming the you (familiar) command.
| Do you want some apples? | Voulez-vous des pommes? |
| Do you want some? | En voulez-vous? |
| I have three sisters. | J'ai trois surs. |
| I have three (of them). | J'en ai trois. |
| It is in the drawer | Il est dans le tiroir. |
| It is there. | Il y est. |
| I am going to Detroit. | Je vais à Détroit. |
| I am going there. | J'y vais. |
| I am going to go to Atlanta. | Je vais aller à Atlanta. |
| I am going to go there. | Je vais y aller. |
| Answer the telephone! | Répondez au téléphone ! |
| Answer it! (formal) | Répondez-y ! |
| Stay there! (familiar) | Restes-y ! |
| Don't stay there! (familiar) | N'y reste pas. |
Note: Notice y and en don't go after the verb in negative commands.
Treat them like pronouns. Ne or Je plus y or
en all contract to N'y (nee), J'y (zhee), N'en
(nawn), and J'en (zhawn). When you have
a conjugated verb plus an infinitive (vais and aller), the y or en go in
between the two verbs.
This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages