A2 · The pronouns
The pronouns y and en
Two words English has to answer without.
At a glance
- Remember
- «Yes, I do» has no French translation: say the verb again.
- Form
- J’y vais.I am going there.
- Signal words
- aller
- penser à
- avoir besoin de
- combien
- Trap
- Wrong:Tu veux du café ? — Oui, je veux.Right:Tu veux du café ? — Oui, j’en veux.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French.
| I am going there. | J’y vais. |
| I am thinking about it. | J’y pense. |
| I have just come from there. | J’en viens. |
| I have two of them. | J’en ai deux. |
| There are three of them. | Il y en a trois. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
y stands for a place and for anything with à.
Tu vas au marché ? — J’y vais.Are you going to the market? — I am going there.
en stands for a quantity and for anything with de.
Tu as du pain ? — Oui, j’en ai.Do you have any bread? — Yes, I have some.
A number or a quantity stays at the end.
J’en veux un kilo.I would like a kilo of it.
For people, à takes a pronoun rather than y.
Je pense à elle.I am thinking about her.
Example sentences
Le sucre ? Il n’y en a plus.The sugar? There is none left.
Tu es allé à Lyon ? — Oui, j’y suis allé.Did you go to Lyon? — Yes, I went there.
Des questions ? — J’en ai une.Any questions? — I have one.
On en parle demain.We will talk about it tomorrow.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English can answer with an auxiliary and nothing else — «Do you want coffee? — Yes, I do» — and that habit produces Oui, je veux, which is not a French sentence. vouloir needs an object, and if the object was du café then the object is en. The same applies to y: J'y vais, never je vais on its own.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
y replaces a place or anything introduced by à: Tu vas à Paris ? — J'y vais demain. «There» is the nearest English word, and it only covers the place half.
en replaces a quantity or anything introduced by de, which includes everything that came with a partitive article: Tu veux du café ? — Oui, j'en veux. The nearest English words are «some» and «of it», and both can be left out.
That optionality is the whole difficulty. English answers a question by recycling the auxiliary and dropping the object entirely — «Do you want coffee? — Yes, I do.» French has no such construction: the verb must be repeated and the thing must be represented, so Oui, j'en veux is the shortest complete answer there is. Both pronouns stand before the verb, and with a number the number stays behind: j'en ai deux.
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 61 · Imperfect (imparfait)Back to the learning path
The verbs on this page, in every form: avoir · aller · être · parler · vouloir · penser