The French preposition en is nearly always used directly in front of a noun, with no article.

It can indicate all of the following: I. Location il est en prison - he is in jail j'habite en banlieue - I live in the suburbs II. Time (en vs dans) en aot - in August en trois jours - in three days en semaine - during the week

III. To do something like or as Je te parle en ami - I'm speaking to you as a friend Il agit en enfant - He's acting like a kid

IV. Means voyager en train - to travel by train rentrer en taxi - to return by taxi

V. Condition or appearance tre en bonne sant - to be in good health tre en guerre - to be at war tre en pyjama - to be in pajamas

VI. Transformation traduire en franais - to translate into French

se dguiser en... - to disguise oneself as... transformer une salle en bureau - to change a room into an office

VII. Material un pull en laine - wool sweater une maison en brique - brick house Adverbial Pronoun The French adverbial pronoun en is so tiny that one might think its role in a sentence is not very important, but in fact quite the opposite is true. It is extremely important in French. En replaces the partitive article + noun or de + indefinite article + noun. It is equivalent to "some," "any," or "one" in English. o o o Do you have any bread? Yes, I have some. As-tu du pain ? Oui, j'en ai. He wants an apple. He wants one. Il a envie d'une pomme. Il en a envie. I don't need an assistant. I don't need one. n'ai pas besoin d'un aide. Je n'en ai pas besoin.

In a sentence with a modifier, such as an adverb of quantity or a number, plus noun, en replaces the noun and the modifier or number is placed at the end of the sentence. Note that "of it" and "of them" are usually optional in English, but en is required in French. o o o o There are a lot of rooms. There are a lot (of them). Il y a beaucoup de chambres. Il y en a beaucoup. I don't have enough money. I don't have enough (of it). Je n'ai pas assez d'argent. Je n'en ai pas assez. I'd like two books. I'd like two (of them). Je voudrais deux livres. J'en voudrais deux. We bought 10 notebooks. We bought 10 (of them). Nous avons achet 10 cahiers. Nous en avons achet 10.

En also replaces de + noun with verbs and expressions that need de. Again, in French, you must include either de + something or its replacement en, even though "about/of it" is usually optional in English. What do you think about my idea? What do you think (about it)? Que penses-tu de mon ide ? Qu'en penses-tu ?Wrong: Que penses-tu ?

What are the consequences of this decision? What are the consequences (of it) Quelles sont les consquences de cette dcision ? Quelles en sont les consquences ? Wrong: Quelles sont les consquences ? Note that en usually cannot replace de + verb. I decided to accept his offer. I decided to accept it. J'ai dcid d'accepter son offre. J'ai dcid de l'accepter. Wrong: J'en ai dcid. I forgot to wash the car. I forgot to wash it. J'ai oubli de laver la voiture. J'ai oubli de la laver. Wrong: J'en ai oubli. Preposition The French word en is both a preposition, meaning "on" or "in," and an adverbial pronoun. Both words are found in a variety of French expressions - learn how to say backward, live broadcast, in any case, and more with this list of expressions with en. avoir confiance en to have confidence in c'est son pre en plus jeune he's a younger version of his father croire en to believe in en arrire backward en avant forward o o o o o en avoir ras le bol to have had enough, to be fed up En avril, ne te dcouvre pas d'un fil Warm weather in April isn't to be trusted en bas downstairs en danger in danger En deux temps, trois mouvements in double time, very quickly en diffr recorded (broadcast) en direct live (broadcast) en effet indeed, that's right en face opposite en fait in fact en garde on guard en haut upstairs en l'absence de in the absence of en l'honneur de in honor of en mon nom in my name en moyenne on the average en plein (hiver, ville) in the middle of (winter, town) en pleine forme in good shape en retard late en sa faveur in his favor en souffrance pending, awaiting delivery en tant que (cadeau, copain) as/in the capacity of (a gift, boyfriend) en tourneon tour en tout cas in any case en train de (faire quelque chose) in the process of (doing something) en vacances on vacation en vouloir (informal) to be mad at (someone) en voyage on a trip et j'en passe ! and that's not all! Heureux au jeu, malheureux en amour lucky at cards, unlucky in love J'en ai ras le bol ! I've had it! J'en peux plus I can't take (it) any more Je n'en reviens pas I can't believe it Ne m'en veux pas (informal) Don't be mad, Don't hold it against me. se mettre en colre to get mad se mettre en route to set out Monter quelque chose en pingle to blow something all out of proportion

o o o o o o o o o o o

EN VS DANS

The prepositions en and dans can both be used to express time and location in French, but their uses are completely different. En expresses the length of time an action takes. Note that this means the verb is usually in the present or past. Je peux faire le lit en 5 minutes. I can make the bed in 5 minutes. Il a lu le livre en une heure. He read the book in an hour. J'ai appris danser en un an. I learned how to dance in a year. En is used to express the month, season,* or year in which an action takes place (calendar vocabulary): Nous voyageons en avril. We travel in April. Il arrivera en hiver. He will arrive in the winter. *Except au printemps En can mean in or to when followed directly by a noun that doesn't need an article: Vous allez en prison !You're going to prison! Il est en classe. He's in school. En also means to or in with some states, provinces, and countries: J'habite en CalifornieI live in California Je vais en France I'm going to France

Dans indicates the amount of time before which an action will occur in the future. Note that this means the verb is usually in the present or future. Nous partons dans dix minutes. We're leaving in 10 minutes. Il reviendra dans une heure. He'll be back in an hour. Elle va commencer dans une semaine.She's going to start in a week. Dans refers to something that occurs within a decade: Dans les annes soixantes... In the sixties... Dans means in a location when followed by an article plus noun: Il est dans la maison. He's in the house. Qu'est-ce qui est dans la bote ?What's in the box? Dans also means to or in with some states and provinces: J'habite dans le MaineI live in Maine Je vais dans l'Ontario I'm going to Ontario

Verbs with en

French preposition agir en to act like / as avoir confiance en to trust casser en (morceaux, trois) to break in(to) (pieces, two) se changer en to change into convertir qqch en to convert s.t. into couper en (deux) to cut in (two) croire en to believe in se dguiser en to disguise oneself as crire en (franais, ligne) to write (in French, on line) msurer en (mtres) to measure in (meters) se mettre en colre to get mad se mettre en route to set out partir en (guerre) to leave for (war) partir en (voiture) to leave by/in (car) traduire en (franais) to translate into (French) transformer qqch en (qqch)to change s.t. into (s.t.) se vendre en (bouteilles) to be sold in (bottles) voyager en (train, taxi) to travel by (train, taxi)

REFLEXIVE PRONOUN
Reflexive pronouns are a special kind of French pronoun which can only be used withpronominal verbs. These verbs need a reflexive pronoun in addition to a subject pronoun, because the subject(s) performing the action of the verb are the same as the object(s) being acted upon. These are the French reflexive pronouns:

me / m' me, myselF te / t' / toi you, yourself se / s' him(self), her(self), it(self), them(selves) nous us, ourselves vous you, yourself, yourselves

Me, te, and se change to m', t', and s', respectively, in front of a vowel or mute H. Te changes to toi in the imperative. Like object pronouns, reflexive pronouns are placed directly in front of the verb in nearly all tenses and moods:* Nous nous parlons. We're talking to each other. Ils ne s'habillent pas. They aren't getting dressed. *In the imperative, the reflexive pronoun is attached to the end of the verb with a hyphen. Lve-toi ! Get up! Aidons-nous. Let's help each other

Reflexive pronouns always have to agree with their subjects, in all tenses and moods - including the infinitive and the present participle. Je me lverai. I will get up. Nous nous sommes couchs. We went to bed. Vas-tu te raser ? Are you going to shave? En me levant, j'ai vu... While getting up, I saw... Be careful not to mix up the third person singular reflexive pronoun se with the direct object lesee lesson on se. Se, the third person singular and plural reflexive pronoun, is one of the most often misused French pronouns. It can only be used in two kinds of constructions: 1. With a pronominal verb: Elle se lave. She's washing up (she's washing herself). Ils se sont habills. They got dressed (they dressed themselves). Elles se parlent. They're talking to each other. 2. In a passive impersonal construction: Cela ne se dit pas. That isn't said. L'alcool ne se vend pas ici. Alcohol isn't sold here. French learners sometimes get confused about whether to use se or the direct object le. They are not interchangeable - compare the following: Elle se rase. - She's shaving (herself). = Se is the reflexive pronoun Elle le rase. - She's shaving it (e.g., the cat). = Le is the direct object Il se lave. - He's washing (himself). = Se is the reflexive pronoun Il le lave. - He's washing it (e.g., the dog or the knife). = Le is the direct object Se lave-t-il le visage ? - Oui, il se le lave. - Is he washing his face? Yes, he's washing it. = Se and le work together Note that se may be the direct or indirect object of a French sentence.

Ils se voient. - They see each other. = Se means "each other" and is a direct object. Il se lave le visage. - He's washing his face. (Literally, "He's washing the face of himself") = Se means "of himself" and is an indirect object. (Visage is the direct object)