The French adverbial pronoun en is used to replace a phrase introduced by de, a quantity, or a place. This means that this en is different from the preposition of place en as in, Il va en Italie meaning He’s going to Italy.
Because of its many uses, en can be translated into English in many different ways: any, one, some, about it/of it, etc, or it may not even have a translation at all! In this post, we’ll review the uses of the adverbial pronoun en, along with the position of en in the sentence.
Vous voulez en savoir plus ? meaning Would you like to find out more? Let’s get started with the uses of the preposition en.
What are the uses of the pronoun ‘en’ in French?
The adverbial pronoun en is used in French to replace phrases that begin with the preposition de, expressions of quantity, expressions introduced by a verb + de, and de used with location. Let’s take a look.
How to use ‘en’ to replace the preposition ‘de’ + noun?
En is used to replace the preposition de + noun in French. The French partitive article de represents an indefinite quantity and is the equivalent of “some” in English. It is often used with food:
To answer this question, you can say:
However, in English, it is more likely that you would simply reply, “Yes, I do.” In French, though, we can’t say, ❌Oui, je veux. This is when our pronoun en comes into action. The whole phrase de + noun must be replaced by en. This means that “de la salade” needs to be replaced by en.
- Tu veux de la salade ?Translation: Do you want some salad?
- Oui, j’en veux !Translation: Yes, I want some. (less literally: Yes, I do.)
This applies to all forms of the partitive article de: du, de la, des, de l'.
- On fait des gâteaux.Translation: We make cakes.
→
On en fait.Translation: We make some. - Elle boit du thé le matin.Translation: She drinks tea in the morning.
→
Elle en boit le matin.Translation: She drinks some in the morning.
How to use ‘en’ to replace nouns following a number and expressions of quantity?
En is used to replace a number or an expression of quantity + noun in French.
Replacing a number + noun
Let’s imagine Juliette is an elementary school pupil who owns five felt tip pens. Her teacher would like to borrow one. Let’s take a look at the two conversations below.
Conversation 1 Conversation 2 - Juliette, tu as combien de feutres ?Translation: Juliette, how many felt tip pens have you got?
- Juliette, tu as combien de feutres ?Translation: Juliette, how many felt tip pens have you got?
- J’ai cinq feutres, maîtresse.Translation: I’ve got five felt tip pens, miss.
- J’en ai cinq, maîtresse.Translation: I’ve got five, miss.
- Tu peux me prêter un feutre ?Translation: Can you lend me one felt tip pen ?
- Tu peux m’en prêter un ?Translation: Can you lend me one?
- Oui, voilà un feutre !Translation: Yes, here is one felt tip pen!
- Oui, en voilà un !Translation: Yes, here is one!
What do you notice? Conversation 1 is very repetitive with the noun feutre, isn’t it? In conversation 2, feutre has been replaced by en and the dialogue is lighter.
Replacing an expression of quantity + noun
Let’s look at another dialogue:
Marcel:
Vous voulez un peu de moutarde ?Translation: Do you want a little bit of mustard?Raphaël:
Oui, j’en veux un peu.Translation: Yes, I want a little bit (of it).Dimitri:
Moi, j’en veux beaucoup !Translation: I want a lot (of it)!Here we are using French adverbs of quantity: un peu de meaning a little bit of, beaucoup de meaning a lot of. Have you noticed that in the replies, the interlocutors repeat the adverb of quantity?
The same applies to indefinite adjectives like quelques meaning a few or plusieurs meaning several.
Axelle a plusieurs appartements à l’étranger.Translation: Axelle has several flats abroad.→
Elle en a plusieurs.Translation: She has several (of them).
We have seen how to replace a noun with en. Now let’s look at what happens for expressions introduced by a verb + de.
How to use ‘en’ to replace ‘de’ + noun after a verb?
En is also used to replace expressions introduced by a verb and followed by the preposition de and a noun. Many French verbs are followed by the preposition de!
When a verb + de is followed by a noun or noun phrase it can be replaced by en:
- Il s’occupe de la livraison des médicaments aux personnes âgées.Translation: He takes care of the delivery of medicines to the elderly.
→
Il s’en occupe.Translation: He’s taking care of it. - Le journaliste parle de l’augmentation de la vente de produits bio.Translation: The reporter talks about the increase in the sale of organic products.
→
Il en parle depuis 5 minutes.Translation: He has been talking about it for 5 minutes.
Note that often a verb + de can then be followed by another verb. But en cannot be used to replace de + verb. En only replaces de + noun.
We’ve created a list and examples of common verbs + de in French that you can use en with to avoid repetition.
How to use ‘en’ to replace ‘de’ + noun when expressing location?
En is also used in French to replace expressions with de that indicate location. This will typically be in the form of a verb + de + noun phrase, like the expressions we looked at in the section above, but In this case, the noun phrase will be a location! You’ll find this often is done with verbs like venir de meaning to come from or revenir de meaning to return from.
- 🏦 Je reviens juste de la banque ! → J’en reviens.Translation: I’m just coming back from the bank! → I’m just back (from) there.
- 🚆 Le train s’approche de la gare de Berne. → Le train s’en approche.Translation: The train is getting nearer to the Bern train station. → The train is getting nearer (to) there.
- 🌊 Ils arrivent du parc aquatique. → Ils en arrivent.Translation: They are arriving from the water park. → They are arriving (from) there.
Now that we have looked at the function of en, let’s move on to its place in the sentence.
Where to put ‘en’ in a French sentence?
In French sentences, we typically put en before the conjugated verb. But what if you use additional pronouns, infinitives, or imperatives? Let’s take a look.
When to use ‘en’ before a conjugated verb?
Usually, you will place en in front of the conjugated verb:
This is true when you use the expression il y a meaning there is, there are, where a is the conjugated verb.
- Il y a beaucoup de manifestants ?Translation: Are there many demonstrators?
- conjugated verbOui, il y en a beaucoup.Translation: Yes, there are many (of them).
The French pronoun y always goes before en. This is the famous Donkey Law (eee a(n), listen for yourself and you will never forget this rule 😀!)
This also applies to French compound tenses such as the passé composé. En goes before the auxiliary in this case, because the auxiliary is the conjugated verb (rather than the past participle):
- Tu as acheté du lait ?Translation: Did you buy milk?
- conjugated verbOui, j’en ai acheté hier.Translation: Yes, I bought some yesterday.
In a French negative sentence, keep en in front of the conjugated verb.
- Vous vendez des balles de tennis ?Translation: Do you sell tennis balls?
- conjugated verbNon, je n’en vends pas.Translation: No, I don’t sell any.
With a negated compound tense, this would look like:
- Vous avez vendu des balles de tennis ?Translation: Did you sell tennis balls?
- conjugated verbNon, je n’en ai pas vendu.Translation: No, I didn’t sell any.
In a French question, en is also situated in front of the conjugated verb.
conjugated verbQu’est-ce que tu en penses ?Translation: What do you think about it?
When to use ‘en’ after a verb?
The pronoun en will go after the conjugated verb in two main situations: when the verb is followed by an infinitive and in a positive imperative (a command to do something):
When the verb is followed by an infinitive, eninl will go after the conjugated verb and directly before the infinitive. This is true in both positive and negative sentences:
- Je peux vendre des boissons ?Translation: Can I sell drinks?
- infinitiveOui, tu peux en vendre.Translation: Yes, you can sell some.
Or:
- infinitiveNon, tu ne peux pas en vendre.Translation: No, you can’t sell any.
In the French imperative mood, the pronoun en goes straight after the verb in the imperative in an affirmative sentence:
imperativeBuvez-en souvent le soir, ça vous aidera à vous endormir !Translation: Drink some often at night, it will help you fall asleep!However, look at what happens in the negative imperative:
negative imperativeN’en buvez pas le soir, ça vous empêcherait de dormir !Translation: Don't drink any at night, it will keep you awake!In the negative imperative, en still comes before the verb. The formula is:
neenimperative verb
pasMany set phrases in French use the preposition en, such as J’en ai marre meaning I’m fed up. Check out our resource for more examples!
Where to place ‘en’ when there are several pronouns in a sentence?
If you have several pronouns in a sentence with en — usually you only use a maximum of two within a sentence — en always comes last. Here is the order to follow:
SUBJECT
me
te
nous
vous
le
la
les
lui
leur
y
en
VERB
→
Now you know when and how to use en, so it’s time to recap.
Let’s wrap up!
When using the pronoun en in French, keep the following takeaways in mind:
The adverbial preposition en is used to replace a noun or a noun phrase in these scenarios:
de + noun to express an indefinite quantity (some)
quantity + noun: the quantity is represented by a number, an adverb of quantity (i.e un peu de meaning a little bit of) or an indefinite adjective (i.e. plusieurs meaning several)
certain verbs + de + nouns (i.e. parler de meaning to talk about, venir de meaning to come from)
Here is a recap on its location in the sentence
en + conjugated verb (including with a compound tense or in a negative structure)
just before an infinitive verb
imperative + en (affirmative) or en + imperative (negative)
Now let’s practice using the pronoun en with some exercises!
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