#Le, La, Les

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

dark gulchBOT
#
Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

#

Le, La, Les

wheat zinc
#

.

dark vigil
#

Hi :)

You use these with transitive verbs. Transitive verbs are verbs for which there is an indirect object. Or more simply said, they describe actions that are done to somebody or something. We call thst 'somebody or something' the indirect object.
"I am eating a fish"
Here, "I" is the subject and "a fish" is the indirect object.

We can rewrite that sentence "I am eating it", 'it' refers to the fish.

In French, we can do the same thing.

  • "La" refers to feminine words
  • "Le" refers to masculine words, and
  • "Les" refers to words that are plural.
    For example, "Je mange le poisson" can be written as "Je le mange" and "Je vois les enfants" can be written as "Je les vois".
wheat zinc
#

omg thank you so much

#

merci beaucoup

#

so like

#

Je mange la banane

#

would be

#

je la mange?

sinful inlet
#

Direct objects but exactly what Johnny said.
(Indirect objects use prepositions before them.)

wheat zinc
#

what are prepositions?

sinful inlet
#

Words like à, pour, etc.

dark vigil
#

Mais j'en mange ✅

#

or something like that

wheat zinc
#

thats so hard

#

j'en mange?

#

what is the "en"

dark vigil
#

"en" is another pronom personnel which can be used in two ways as far as i know. I think i can best explain through examples tho:

  • « Je suis fier de mon dessin »
    Here, i am proud of something. I can replace that with the pronoun 'en':
  • « J'en suis fier » .
    Notice how the thing i'm proud of is gone, and 'en' is added before the conjugated verb suis. Like this, we can transform all kinds of sentences where there's a verb that uses de.
  • J'ai besoin de ta présence
  • J'en ai besoin de ta présence
#

Another way to use 'en' is when talking about quantities.

J'ai trois chats
J'en ai trois

J'ai quatres bananes
J'en ai quatres

#

But sometimes it gets really vague and the information that 'en' is supposed to replace is in a sense, lost, or extremely generalised. This can happen in for example fixed expressions

#

But shouldn't really worry about that at this stage

wheat zinc
#

so does it make the sentence more mysterious?

#

as in not give too much context?

#

what about other pronouns

#

like Tu, Il/Elle, Nous, Vous, Ils/Elles

dark vigil
# wheat zinc as in not give too much context?

Normally no, because the thing 'en' (or le, la, les for that matter) is referring to is usually already mentioned in the conversation. So we use these to not have to repeat ourselves

wheat zinc
#

ohh

dark vigil
wheat zinc
#

so "en" is used for let's say

dark vigil
#

Wait i have a cool image

wheat zinc
#

Can I have a pen

#

not can I have the pen

#

so like

dark vigil
#

Is this image clear lol

wheat zinc
#

not at all

#

lol

dark vigil
#

Voilà

#

The 4th column has the le la les and other pronouns for direct objects

#

The last columns has your en and y

wheat zinc
#

do you have one in english?

#

or what is this called so i can search it up

toxic void
#

using « en » and « y » is a bit advanced for a beginner

dark vigil
# wheat zinc Can I have a pen

Yes exactly !!

Je peux avoir un stylo ?
Je peux en avoir un ? (Quantity has to be mentioned)

Je peux avoir le stylo ?
Je peux *l'*avoir ?

toxic void
#

focus first on mastering le, la, les

wheat zinc
toxic void
#

je le mange
je la vois
je les veux
etc

wheat zinc
wheat zinc
dark vigil
#

That's true, first focus on your le, la les. But let's also not underestimate those with the proud orange badges. It's a grammatical concept that can be learned and that one gets used to, nothing more, nothing less.

wheat zinc
#

just not the indefinitive

toxic void
#

what is indefinitive?

wheat zinc
#

like de des

#

if im not mistaken?

toxic void
#

ive never heard that term before

wheat zinc
#

like can i have A pen

#

versus

#

can I have the pen

#

THE

toxic void
#

ahh

wheat zinc
toxic void
#

okay

#

no thats okay

#

hold on im thinking

#

definite articles

#

and indefinite articles

wheat zinc
#

YES

toxic void
#

OKAY!

#

gotcha

dark vigil
toxic void
#

so sorry what was the question?

wheat zinc
#

what is the difference in saying Can I have the pen (can I have it) or can I have a pen (can I have it)

#

because they are the same in english

toxic void
#

no they are not the same in en

#

definite article you are asking for something specific

#

can I have the pen

#

not any pen, but that specific on

#

peux-tu me donner le stylo

wheat zinc
#

as johnny said

#

J'en

toxic void
#

ah dont

#

its too complicated right

#

we use « en » to replace context

#

do you have any beer?
yes, I have some

as-tu de la bière?
oui, j'en ai

wheat zinc
#

i just need more clarification

toxic void
#

im not sure how to explain it to you to be honest. you'll never need to use it util you're more internediate

#

its just used to avoid repetition in conversations

#

you need to first understand how phrases with le la les work

#

then you can come back to it

wheat zinc
#

its for him, her, them,

#

like

#

"Are you eating my banana"
"Oui, je la mange"

#

or

#

Je les vois

toxic void
#

yes thats right

wheat zinc
#

what about if im talking about "nous"

toxic void
#

nous?

wheat zinc
#

Like "You see us"

toxic void
#

tu nous vois

wheat zinc
#

ohh

#

ok way more simple

#

thank you so much

toxic void
#

no worries

dark vigil
#

And with vous, it's also vous

I see you (plural)
Je vous vois

wheat zinc
#

perfect

#

what is the other one Johnny was talking about for indefinitive articles?

#

J'en

toxic void
#

so we would use « en » instead of « la » when we are talking about bananas in general, and not a specific banana

are you eating bananas?
yes I'm eating some

tu manges des bananes?
oui, j'en mange

wheat zinc
#

ill learn it myself

#

of

#

oh

toxic void
#

in this case, en replaces the context introduced by de

wheat zinc
#

what about other pronouns

#

like we are eating some

toxic void
#

instead of saying oui, je mange des bananes which is repeptitive

#

nous en mangeons

wheat zinc
#

and what if it wasn't "de" but it was plural so "des"

toxic void
#

j'en mange
tu en manges
il / elle / on en mange
nous en mangeons
vous en mangez
ils en mangent

wheat zinc
#

thats for singular right?

toxic void
wheat zinc
#

so

#

je des mange?

toxic void
#

non

#

i mean we also use en because « des » is just « de les »

wheat zinc
#

so i would justy need to understand the context to know if it was plural or not

#

so

#

instead of

toxic void
#

tu bois du cafe
oui, j'en bois

tu manges des bananes?
oui, j'en mange

wheat zinc
#

Nous mangeons des bananes

#

it would be

#

still

#

Nous en mangeons

toxic void
#

parfait!

wheat zinc
#

even if its plural?

toxic void
#

yes

wheat zinc
#

THANK YOU SO MUCH

#

YOU GUYS ARE LIFE SAVERS

toxic void
#

but you can only use it to replace context that is already known!

wheat zinc
toxic void
#

for example, if you just came up to me and said j'en mange

#

i have no idea what en is

wheat zinc
toxic void
#

so i cant understand

#

exactly!

wheat zinc
toxic void
#

we also have y

wheat zinc
#

.

toxic void
#

but that is for context introuced by à

wheat zinc
#

here we go

#

lol

toxic void
#

je vais au supermarché

#

j'y vais

wheat zinc
#

woah

toxic void
#

because au = à le

wheat zinc
#

what does that mean

toxic void
#

for example

are you going to the supermarket?
yes, I'm going (there)

in english we can just drop the "there", but in french we cant

vas-tu au supermarché?
oui, j'y vais

#

its the same as « en »

#

it works the same way, but for places instead of objects

wheat zinc
#

ohhh

#

and is it the same for

#

all pronouns

#

nous y vais

#

?

toxic void
#

yes

j'y vais
tu y vas
il y va
nous y allons
vous y allez
ils y vont

#

its where we get the phrase

#

allons-y

#

or vas-y

#

meaning "go there; go ahead; after you"

wheat zinc
#

allons-y means lets go there?

toxic void
#

yes

wheat zinc
#

oh

#

ty

#

thank you so much

toxic void
#

it means let's go! in english because we drop the "there"

#

but in french we have no choice

wheat zinc
#

lol

toxic void
#

feel free to come back if you have any more questions 🙂

wheat zinc
#

if you don't mind, can you add me if I have any questions in the future

toxic void
#

you're a fast learner!

dark vigil
#

i just witnessed a real time French tutoring masterclass woaw

wheat zinc
#

lol

toxic void
dark vigil
#

Very gratifying

wheat zinc
#

better than duolingo ngl

toxic void
#

hahahahaha

#

thank you i appreciate it

#

it just takes some time to understand thats all

dark vigil
toxic void
#

and for me to explain it 😭

dark vigil
#

Bravo Asomi

wheat zinc
#

Thank you guys so much

#

this make so much more sense

dark vigil
wary brook
#

caprice you won't find this dialogued detailed info anywhere!.

wary brook