Year 10. Bon appetit unit. Introducing ‘en’
‘en’ – ‘some of it’ or ‘some of them’ ‘En’ is a small but important word in French that is commonly used with quantities or numbers of things. It can be used to replace a noun when you want to say ‘some of it’ or ‘some of them’. Tu as du pain? Oui, j’en ai.
Other examples Nous avons beaucoup de pommes. Nous en avons beaucoup. Vous voulez des bananes? Oui, j’en veux. Combien de pêches voulez-vous? J’en veux un demi-kilo. En is placed before the verb in a sentence.
‘en’ with negatives When used in a negative sentence ‘en’ corresponds to the English ‘any’. Je n’en ai pas – I don’t have any. In negative sentences ‘en’ is still placed before the verb but after ‘ne’
Exercise 1 – replace the noun with ‘en’ 1. Il a six poires. 2. Je voudrais un kilo de fraises. 3. Nous avons beaucoup de glace. 4. Vous voulez du café? 5. Il nous faut trois carottes. 6. Il y a six courgettes. 7. Il n’y a plus de fraises. 8. Vous avez beaucoup de salades?
Exercise 1 - answers 1. Il en a six. 2. J’en voudrais un kilo. 3. Nous en avons beaucoup. 4. Vous en voulez? 5. Il nous en faut trois. 6. Il y en a six. 7. Il n’y en a plus. 8. Vous en avez beaucoup?
Exercise 2 – translate into English 1. Il en a six. 2. J’en voudrais un kilo. 3. Nous en avons beaucoup. 4. Vous en voulez? 5. Il nous en faut trois. 6. Il y en a six. 7. Il n’y en a plus. 8. Vous en avez beaucoup?
Exercise 2 – English translations 1. He has six (of them). 2. I would like a kilo (of them). 3. We have a lot (of them). 4. Do you want any? (of them) 5. We need three (of them). 6. There are six (of them). 7. There are no more (of them). 8. Do you have a lot (of them).
Notes for translation Notice that in English we can often leave out ‘of them’ and the meaning is not affected. This is not the case in French where ‘en’ must be included if there is no noun in order for the sentence to make sense.