Pronouns En and Y Flashcards
When do you use En and Y?
En and Y do not usually refer to people. How they are translated depends on where En and Y are found in French
When do you use En?
If you’ve got a problem, you can talk to me about it
Can you lend me that book? I need it
He’s got a beautiful garden and is very proud of it
En is used with verbs and phrases normally followed by de to avoid repeating the same word. Used to mean of it or about it or it
Si tu as une probleme, tu peux m’en parler
Est ce que tu peux me preter ce livre? J’en ai besoin
Il a un beau jardin et il en est tres fier
What can En also replace?
I haven’t got any money. Have you got any?
Can you lend me some stamps? No, I need to buy some
En can replace the partitive article (du, de la, de l’ des)
Je n’ai pas d’argent. Tu en as?
Tu peux me preter des timbres? Non, je dois en acheter
When is en also used?
En is used as a preposition
preposition: (to, in, by)
Talk about a place
Talk about years and months
Names of the seasons
most means of transport
What language something is in
When is En also used?
While (in) waiting for his sister, Richard fell asleep
Call us when you get home (on arriving at your house)
By (in) pressing this button, you can print your documents
He hurt himself (in) trying to resue a cat
Used with the present participle (verb ending in -ing) of a verb
En attendant sa souer, Richard s’est endormi
Appelle nous en arrivant chez toi
En appuyant sur ce bouton, on peut imprimer ses documents
Il s’est blesse en essayant de sauver unchat
When en is used with avoir, with il y a or with numbers
Have you got a dictionary? Yes I’ve got one (of them)
How many pupils are there in your class? There are thirty (of them)
I want two (of them)
It is often not translated in english but can never be missed out in French
Est ce que tu as un dictionnaire? Oui, j’en ai un.
Combien d’eleves y a-t-il dans ta classe? Il y en a trente.
J’en veux deux
When is Y used?
I was thinking about the exam. – Well stop thinking about it!
I wasn’t expecting that. – Well I was expecting it.
Y is used with verbs and phrases followed by à to avoid repeating the same word
Je pensais à l’examen. – Mais arrête d’y penser!
Je ne m’attendais pas à ça. – Moi, je m’y attendais.
