Pronouns - Part 5: en

En = of it, of them, some

en is an indirect object pronoun, so there are no past participles agreements 


 

 

Combien d'oeufs y a-t-il?

How many eggs are there?

 

 

Il y en a cinq

There are five 

  

In French, you can't just say, 'there are five' you have to say 'there are five of them'.

  

Elle a 30 ans?

Is she 30 years old

Non elle en a 36

No, she's 36

 

(A literal translation would be: Does she have 30 years? No she has 36 of them)

 

 

De (du, de la, de l', des) are replaced with en

 

Exemple:

 

 

Vous prenez du sucre?

Do you take sugar?

             

 

 Oui j'en prends

Yes I do

(literally, I take some)

 

Non je n'en prends pas

No I don't 

 

 

 

Captain Von Trapp - Il a beaucoup d'enfants?

Does Captain Von Trapp have a lot of children?

 

Oui, il en a beaucoup

Yes he has a lot (of them)