Un 12.1
The pronouns ‘y’ and ‘en’
The pronouns ‘y’ and ‘en’ are often referred to as adverbial pronouns, les pronoms adverbiaux, reflecting their interesting role as a substitute for a noun (often a preposition and its noun) that refers to a location or quantity of something.
Le pronom 'y'
The pronoun ‘y’ is often used to refer to locations. Typically, these locations would otherwise be described by a preposition of location and a noun, although this is not required. The preposition ‘de‘ is not replaced by the pronoun ‘y’. Contractions are possible with ‘y’.
e.g.
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Ils vont à Québec. -> Ils y vont. |
They’re going there. |
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J’adore la Suisse. J’y étais en 2010. |
I was there in 2010. |
The pronoun ‘y’ is also used to replace objects of verbs that require the preposition ‘à‘. The grammatical gender and grammatical number of the noun that is being replaced does not have any effect.
e.g.
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Je m’attends à un bon match. -> Je m’y attends. |
I’m expecting it. |
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Nous avons fait attention à cette situation inquiétante. -> Nous y avons fait attention. |
We paid attention to it. |
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Ils vont jouer au badminton. -> Ils vont y jouer. |
They’re going to play it. |
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Ne pense pas à ces problèmes ! -> N‘y pense pas ! |
Don’t think about it! |
When with a verb in the imperative in the affirmative, the pronoun ‘y’ follows and is attached with a hyphen (like object pronouns). In the second person singular, however, an ‘s’ is added to certain forms of the imperative to facilitate pronunciation. Liaison occurs with ‘y’ in this position.
e.g.
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Pensez à l’importance de ma question ! -> Pensez-y ! |
Think about it! |
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Va chez le médecin ! -> Vas-y ! |
Go (there)! |
The pronoun ‘y’ does not replace nouns referring to people. Other types of pronouns are needed in such situations.
e.g.
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Je parle à Lee. -> Je lui parle. |
I’m talking to him. |
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Elle pense à Manon. -> Elle pense à elle. |
She’s thinking of her. |
There are some set expressions that use the pronoun ‘y’ without necessarily clearly referring to something.
e.g.
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J’y vais. |
I’m going. / I’m off. |
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On y va ! |
Let’s go! |
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Vas-y ! / Allez-y ! |
Go ahead. |
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Ça y est ! |
Ok! / That’s it! / All done! / Here we go (again)! |
Le pronom 'en'
The pronoun ‘en’ is often used to replace the preposition ‘de’. The preposition ‘de’ can be found after verbs, adjectives and nouns. It can also be found in a contracted form, depending on the sentence. Contractions are possible with the pronoun ‘en’.
e.g.
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Je m’occupe de cette tâche. -> Je m’en occupe. |
I’m taking care of it. |
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Tu dois être fière de ton travail. -> Tu dois en être fière. |
You should be proud of it. |
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Il n’a pas peur des tigres. -> Il n’en a pas peur. |
He isn’t afraid of them. |
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L’entraîneur vient de Saskatchewan. -> L’entraîneur en vient. |
The coach comes from there. |
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Ce n’était pas juste. Ma colocataire en est désolée. |
That wasn’t fair. My roommate’s sorry about it. |
The pronoun ‘en’ is also used to replace nouns when referring to a noun with a partitive article, un article partitif, as well as when referring to a specific number of the noun being replaced. When referring to a specific number, the number is typically given after the verb. The grammatical gender and grammatical number of the noun that is being replaced does not have any effect, except when referring to exactly ‘one’ of something.
e.g.
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N’as-tu pas mangé de la pizza ? -> N’en as-tu pas mangé ? |
You didn’t eat any? |
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On cherche du sucre. Tu en as ? |
We’re looking of some sugar. Do you have some? |
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Des casques ? J’en ai cinq. |
Helmets? I have five. |
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J’ai trouvé une balle de golf. -> J’en ai trouvé une. |
I found one. |
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Ils n’ont fait que la moitié du travail. -> Ils n’en ont fait que la moitié. |
They only did half (of it). |
Similar to the pronoun ‘y’, second person singular forms in the affirmative imperative require an added ‘s’ in many cases, to facilitate pronunciation. Liaison occurs with ‘en’ in this position.
e.g.
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Parle à ton médecin de cette douleur ! -> Parles-en à ton médecin ! |
Talk about it with your doctor! |
Like the pronoun ‘y’, too, the pronoun ‘en’ does not replace nouns referring to people. Other types of pronouns are needed in such situations.
e.g.
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Donne-moi celui à côté de mon cousin. -> Donne-moi celui à côté de lui. |
Give me the one beside him |
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On parle de Gaëlle. -> On parle d’elle. |
We’re talking about her. |
Some expressions employ ‘en’ without an obvious reference to what ‘en’ replaces. Without ‘en’, however, these expressions lose their intended meaning.
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Ah, j’en ai marre de ces questions ! |
Ah, I’m fed up with these questions! |
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Malheureusement, je pense qu’ils en ont assez. |
Unfortunately, I think they’re fed up. |
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Ne m’en veux pas, s’il te plaît! |
Please don’t hate me! |
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Les gens s’en fichent de nos problèmes. |
People don’t care about our problems. |
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Ne t’en fais pas, je vais trouver une solution. |
Don’t worry, I’ll find a solution. |
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Je m’en vais. |
I’m leaving. / I’m outta here. |
Exercices
Un 12.1 - Ex. 1
Un 12.1 - Ex. 2
Un 12.1 - Ex. 3
Leçons