Pronouns (y & en)

Y & EN  – Allons-y!

Here is an excellent overview of “y” from about.com
Here is an excellent overview of “en” from about.com
About.com also provides a practice quiz with “y” & “en” (you can choose the # of questions)
“Lawless French”
Plus d’information

Quia games and activities to practice

-Quia quiz to practice “y” and “en”

Battleship

Challenge board (like Jeopardy)

Hangman (includes opinions as well as “y” & “en”

The pronoun “y” is the equivalent of the English there. It replaces names of places introduced by PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE such as à, en, dans, chez, etc.
J’y vais  –  I go there.                    Je n’y vais pas   –   I don’t go there.
J’y suis allé(e)  –  I went there.           Je n’y suis pas allé(e)     –     I didn’t go there.
Allons-y!   –   Let’s go (there)!
The pronoun “en” is the equivalent of the English some or any. While these pronouns can be omitted in English, they must always be used in French.
Tu as de l’argent?  Oui, j’en ai.  Yes, I have (some).
Non, je n’en ai pas. No, I don’t have any.
Note that un and une are not used in negative sentences.
 Tu as une voiture?  Non, je n’en ai pas.
En replaces the preposition de + NOUN
Tu viens de la plage?  Oui, j’en viens.  Yes, I am coming from there. 
Tu parles de tes projets? Non, je n’en parle pas. No, I don’t talk about them.
Tu as besoin de ton livre? Oui, j’en ai besoin. Yes, I need it.

 

En replaces a noun introduced by a NUMBER.

Marc a trois frères. Et toi? Moi, j’en ai deux. I have two.

Sandrine a trente CD. Moi, j’en ai trente aussi. I also have
thirty.

En replaces de + NOUN after an expression of QUANTITY.
Tu as beaucoup d’amis? Oui, j’en ai beaucoup. Yes, I have
many.
Tu as assez d’argent? Non, je n’en ai pas assez. No, I don’t have
enough.

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