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Y ET EN
LE PRONOM “Y”
When to use “y”
• The pronom y is used to replace the prepositions that are followed by places or things ( which
• Places that are introduced with the preposition are à, en, dans, devant, sous, sur, derrière.
ex: 1. Le bus depose les tourists sur le parking de l’hôtel . Il y a garé pour la nuit.
• If the preposition à is followed by a thing or a place you will replace both the preposition and the noun with y.
• With certain verbs y replaces the preposition à when its object is an idea or thing, but not a person. The
verbes are penser à, réfléchir à, s’intéresser à, répondre à, participer à. In these case , the preposition à is
idiomatic, so it does not indicate location.
ex: 1. J’ y vais.
• En is also used to replaces : a noun introduced by a number, the expression of quantity, the
partitive article.
French numbers - “ un, une, trois….”
a fraction such - “ un quart”….
an adverb of quantity – “ beaucoup de, un peu de”…..
an expression of quantity – “un kilo de, un litre de, une boîte de”….
Ex: 1. Je veux 6 pommes. J’en veux 6.
2. Je bois de l’ eau. J’en bois.
• There is no difference between people and things with the use of en.
• Whenever the word “de” comes, you will use en to replace both de and the noun that follow
it.
ex: Est-ce qu’il parle de son livre? Oui, il en parle.
• En will translate to some, about/ from/of + if/ him/ her/ them/ us/ you/ me.
• Pas is also a quantity, so you have to use “en” and repeat the “pas”.
parler de – to speak of
• The placement of en is the same as that of direct and indirect pronoun object. In
compound tense , like passe compose, it preceds the auxilary . There is no agreement
between en and the past participle, since en does not replace a direct object.