Lesson 8 - Grammar 3 - Part one: Object pronoun ‘en’
The object pronoun en is invariable and immediately precedes the verb except in the imperative-affirmative (see grammar 4 in this lesson).
‘en’
replaces ‘de +
noun
or pronoun’.
Remember:
a. The object pronoun ‘en’ is used instead of ‘le, la, les’ if the noun it replaces is used in an indefinite or partitive sense:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
Il apporte des bagages. | He is bringing some luggage. |
Il en apporte. | He is bringing some. |
Voilà des billets. | Here are some tickets. |
En voilà. | Here are some. |
Il achète du pain. | He is buying some bread. |
Il en achète. | He is buying some. |
but:
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
Il apporte les bagages. | He is bringing some luggage. |
Il les apporte. | He is bringing them. |
Voilà les billets. | Here are the tickets. |
Les voilà. | Here they are. |
Il achète le pain. | He is buying the bread. |
Il l'achète | He is buying it. |
b. The object pronoun ‘en’ is also used when the noun is preceded by a number or an adverb of quantity.
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
Donnez-moi quatre chemises. | Give me four shirts. |
Donnez-m'en quatre. | Give me four. |
Nous avons plusieurs chambres libres. | We have several rooms vacant. |
Nous en avons plusieurs de libres. | We have several vacant. |
c. ‘en’ can be used for ‘de + location’, meaning from there.
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
Il vient du Midi. | He is coming from the south of France. |
Il en vient. | He is coming from there. |
Il part du bureau à 6 heures. | He leaves the office at 6 o'clock. |
Il en part à 6 heures. | He leaves it at 6 o'clock. |
d. ‘en’ is used with verbs followed by ‘de’, even if the noun or pronoun is used in a definite way.
French / Français | English / Anglais |
---|---|
Il a besoin de l'auto. | He needs the car. |
Il en a besoin. | He needs it. |
Il a besoin de celles-ci. | He needs these. |
Il en a besoin. | He needs them. |
Elle parle du discours. | She's talking about the speech. |
Elle en parle. | She's talking about it. |