Learn French Grammar: The Adverbial Pronoun En: Quantitative Mechanics

Grammar

What the Pronoun En Replaces

The pronoun en replaces a noun that is introduced by the preposition de or by a quantity expression. It corresponds to the English words some, of it, or of them, and it appears whenever the speaker wants to avoid repeating a noun already mentioned.

Je mange du pain. becomes J'en mange.
Il boit de l'eau. becomes Il en boit.
Elle a des amis. becomes Elle en a.

The pronoun replaces a thing or a quantity, never a person. When the reference is a person introduced by de, French uses the stressed pronoun instead, as in je parle d'elle.

Phrases Replaced by En

Original Phrase	With En	English
du pain	J'en mange.	I eat some.
de la musique	J'en écoute.	I listen to some.
des livres	J'en lis.	I read some.
trois frères	J'en ai trois.	I have three of them.
beaucoup de travail	J'en ai beaucoup.	I have a lot of it.
un peu de sucre	J'en veux un peu.	I want a little.

Position Before the Verb

En follows the same placement rule as the other pronouns. It sits directly before the conjugated verb, never after it.

Je mange du pain. becomes J'en mange.
Tu veux du café. becomes Tu en veux.
Il y a des problèmes. becomes Il y en a.

In the negative, the pronoun stays before the verb, and ne appears between the subject and the pronoun: Je n'en mange pas. The rule matches the placement used for y, le, and lui, so the pattern carries over without adjustment.

En with Numbers and Quantities

The most distinctive use of en appears alongside numbers and quantity expressions. The pronoun keeps the number or the quantity, and the noun disappears.

Tu as des frères ? becomes Oui, j'en ai deux.
Elle veut du gâteau ? becomes Oui, elle en veut un peu.
Vous avez beaucoup d'amis ? becomes Oui, nous en avons beaucoup.

The pronoun and the quantity stay together, and neither can be dropped. Saying j'ai trois without en produces a sentence that no longer stands on its own, since the number alone, without en, has nothing to attach to.

En versus Y

The two adverbial pronouns divide the world of prepositions between them. En replaces a phrase introduced by de, and y replaces a phrase introduced by à, dans, en, or sur.

Je parle de ce film. becomes J'en parle. — a thing, with de
Je pense à ce film. becomes J'y pense. — a thing, with à
Je viens de Paris. becomes J'en viens. — origin, with de
Je vais à Paris. becomes J'y vais. — destination, with à

When the reference is a person, both pronouns give way to the stressed form. De lui, d'elle, à lui, and à elle appear after the verb instead of the adverbial pronouns, following the pattern already seen in the indirect object lesson.

Examples

Je mange du pain. J'en mange.

The partitive du pain is replaced by en. The pronoun contracts with je to produce j'en.

Tu veux du café ? Oui, j'en veux.

En replaces du café and precedes the conjugated verb veux.

Elle a des amis à Paris. Elle en a beaucoup.

The pronoun en keeps the quantity beaucoup and drops the noun amis.

Combien de frères as-tu ? J'en ai deux.

The number deux appears after the verb, and en links it back to the noun frères mentioned in the question.

Il y a du monde ? Oui, il y en a beaucoup.

The phrase il y en a combines y and en in a fixed chunk meaning there is some or there are some. It is learned as a unit rather than as a general rule for combining pronouns.

The Adverbial Pronoun En: Quantitative Mechanics (Le pronom adverbial en)

What you’ll learn

Grammar

What the Pronoun En Replaces

Phrases Replaced by En

Position Before the Verb

En with Numbers and Quantities

En versus Y

Watch out for these

Examples

Exercises

What you’ll learn

Grammar

What the Pronoun En Replaces

Phrases Replaced by En

Position Before the Verb

En with Numbers and Quantities

En versus Y

Examples

Exercises

Related lessons