January 2014 Grammar Lesson: The Pronoun EN in French
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How to use the pronoun EN in French
The pronouns Y and En follow the same kind of logic. For each pronouns there
are 2 main points to understand.
1 – En replaces a QUANTITY
This quantity is likely to be introduce by a partitive article “De, du, de la, de l’, des” , or a number such
as “un, une, trois, vingt-huit”… or a fraction “un quart”… or an adverb of quantity “beaucoup de, un
peu de”… or an expression of quantity “un kilo de, un litre de, une boîte de…”. So any number, or
expression of quantity, or partitive article.
• Je veux 6 pommes = j’en veux 6. (I want six apples - I want six.)
Note that you will always repeat the quantity and also the adverb of quantity:
• Je voudrais beaucoup de sucre = j’en voudrais beaucoup. (I like a lot of sugar = I like a lot of it.)
• J’achète un litre de vin = j’en achète un litre. I buy one liter of wine = I buy one liter of it.
• Je mange un paquet de petits-gateaux = j’en mange un paquet. (I eat a packet of small-cakes = I
eat a packet of it)
Remember that PAS is also a quantity:
• Je ne veux pas de lait = je n’en veux pas. (I don’t want any milk = I don’t want any.)
And “un, une” are also numbers:
• Tu as un chien ? oui, j’en ai un. (You have a dog? yes, I have one.)
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2 – En replaces a THING introduced by “de, du, de la, de l’, des”
• Je rêve de mes vacances = j’en rêve (I dream of my vacation = I dream of it.)
• Je parle de mon voyage = j’en parle (I talk about my trip = I talk about it.)
The “de, du , des…” often comes from the verb meaning that this particular verb is going to be
followed by “de”, and that is why you’d be using a “de” there. This is the case for my examples “rêver
de” and “parler de”. So, in order to master EN, you should really learn the most common verbs
followed by de in French. And train on making sentences using EN with these verbs.
When the “de, du, des…” introduce a person, then you must use a stress pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle,
nous, vous, eux, elles)
• Je rêve de Jean = je rêve de lui (I dream of Jean = I dream of him.)
3 – En = strong liaison and glidings
Now with “en”, it’s important to not that it’s followed by a strong liaison, and usually part of
expressions that glide a lot in spoken French:
• Il y en a = yan na (there is some)
• Il n’y en a pas = yan na pa (there isn’t any)
So the negative form is pronounced almost the same way – only the pas (or plus, aucun..) will tell you
it’s negative. A lot of French people would do a mistake and write “j’en n’ai pas” when it is actually
“Je n’en ai pas”, just because the liaison with “en” in N is so strong that is sounds like the negative,
and because we are so accustom to writing “n’ai pas”… It actually calls for a big effort to write “je
n’en ai pas”, because the spoken glided French sounds like “jan nay pa”…
4 – En = preposition or adverb?
Watch out that “en” can also be a PREPOSITION or an ADVERB, having different meanings:
• Il va en France – he goes to france
• l’avion fait Paris-Boston en 6 heures – it takes the plane 6 hrs to cover Paris-Boston
• Je vais à Paris en voiture – I go to Paris by car
• Nous sommes en novembre, en 2012 – we’re in November, in 2012.
5 – “En” is part of many idioms
• J’en ai marre = I’m fed up
• Je m’en vais = I’m leaving
• Ne t’en fais pas = don’t worry
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