<the pronoun En> | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

atomic sphinxBOT Apr 21, 2025, 8:09 PM

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Please be patient

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

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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.

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potent halo Apr 21, 2025, 8:10 PM

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(Also I hope i did this right- i'm new to the server:))

west trench Apr 21, 2025, 8:13 PM

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the big thing with en is that it replaces a noun phrase with de

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including the partitive structure

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"Vous avez des pommes? Oui, nous en avons"

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likewise "Tu as une voiture? Non, mais j'en ai besoin", because the phrase is "avoir besoin de"

west trench Apr 21, 2025, 8:15 PM

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west trench "Vous avez des pommes? Oui, nous en avons"

this usage has also been extended to quanties more generally "Vous avez combien de pommes? J'en ai 3"

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in french you can't simply say "J'ai trois", you have to say "J'en ai trois" to mean "I have three"

#<the pronoun En>