{"id":10009,"date":"2017-02-24T21:35:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T19:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frenchcourses-paris.com\/?p=10009"},"modified":"2024-07-16T16:35:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T14:35:13","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-en-and-y","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frenchcourses-paris.com\/fr\/french-grammar\/what-is-the-difference-between-en-and-y\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering French Pronouns: The Essential Guide to En vs Y in Grammar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the difference between the French pronouns en and y in daily conversation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

En and y seem to be the ordinary French pronouns that are used to replace a noun in a phrase but in reality, they replace words that denote quantities, qualities, properties and relations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"What<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

THE PRONOUN Y<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Typically, the pronoun y<\/em> replaces indirect objects following the preposition \u00e0 <\/em>(to), and it usually means \u201cthere\u201d in English.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example: Vous allez au cin\u00e9ma ? <\/em>(Are you going to the movie theater?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, je vais au cin\u00e9ma.<\/em> <\/em>(Yes, I am going to the movie theater).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we need is a pronoun to replace au cin\u00e9ma<\/em>. That pronoun is y<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, j\u2019y vais. <\/em>(Yes, I\u2019m going there).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Y <\/em>can also replace \u00e0 <\/em>with non-person nouns that are not locations. When a verb takes an indirect object, you can replace that indirect object with the pronoun y.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example: Tu penses \u00e0 ta famille. <\/em>(You\u2019re thinking about your family.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tu y penses. <\/em>(You\u2019re thinking about it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also many French expressions with y<\/em> in them. These include, for example, il y a<\/strong><\/em> (there is) and allons-y<\/strong><\/em> (let\u2019s go). These are fixed expressions, so you can take them at face value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PRONOUN EN<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In the same way that the relative pronoun y<\/em> replaces constructions with \u00e0 <\/em>to give the meaning of \u201cthere\u201d, the pronoun en<\/em> replaces ones that use de <\/em>(of) to give the meaning of \u201csome\u201d <\/em>or \u201cany\u201d.<\/strong> Therefore, the pronoun en<\/em> usually translates to \u201csome\u201d or \u201cany\u201d in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example : J\u2019ai beaucoup d\u2019amis.<\/em> (I have many friends).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u2019en ai beaucoup.<\/em> <\/em>(I have many).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nous voulons quatre croissants. <\/em>(We want four croissants).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nous en voulons quatre<\/em>.<\/em> (We want four of them).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that the pronoun<\/strong> <\/strong>en<\/em> is distinct from preposition<\/strong> en<\/em> (in), as in \u201cen France<\/em>\u201d or \u201cen Espagne<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Expressions<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are also many French expressions with en<\/em> in them, such as the ones below:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercises to master the difference between en and y<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The following language websites will help you figure out in how to use y\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0en <\/em>in French
<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Texas has two quizzes\u2014one for y<\/em><\/a> and one for en<\/em><\/a> \u2014<\/em>so you can practice them separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About.com offers a good quiz<\/a> to help you master the French pronouns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Columbia University has one<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the difference between en and y in the French language? Learning how to use these pronouns is crucial to understand French conversation in context.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2618],"tags":[3305,3230,3301,3303,2646,3304,2654,2643,3302,2655,2657,2653,2651],"class_list":["post-10009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french-grammar","tag-daily-conversation","tag-difference-between-en-and-y-in-french","tag-en-and-y","tag-en-vs-y","tag-french-expressions-with-y","tag-grammar","tag-how-to-use-y-and-en-in-french","tag-intermediate-french-class-in-paris","tag-mastering-french-pronouns","tag-pronoun-y","tag-pronouns-y-and-en","tag-the-pronoun-en","tag-the-pronoun-y"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t