Y vs en
The short answer
Y replaces a phrase introduced by à: a place you are going to, or a thing you are thinking about. En replaces a phrase introduced by de, and it also replaces any quantity: some of it, three of them, none at all. Both sit directly in front of the verb.
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At a glance
Y or En?
| Compare | YStands in for à + something. | EnStands in for de + something, or a quantity. |
|---|---|---|
| What it replaces | à + noun, and most place expressions | de + noun, and any quantity |
| The question it answers | Où ? À quoi ? | Combien ? De quoi ? D’où ? |
| With places | Where you are, or are going: j’y vais | Where you have come from: j’en viens |
| With numbers | Never | Always: j’en ai trois |
| With people | Rarely; use à lui, à elle | Rarely; use de lui, d’elle |
| Position | Before the verb: j’y pense | Before the verb: j’en parle |
How to choose
Ask these, in order
- 1
Does the verb take à?
Y. Check the verb, not the meaning, penser à, réfléchir à, s’intéresser à all take y.
Je pense à mon travail. → J’y pense.
I think about my work. → I think about it.
- 2
Does the verb take de?
En. Parler de, avoir besoin de, se souvenir de, avoir envie de.
Elle parle de son voyage. → Elle en parle.
She talks about her trip. → She talks about it.
- 3
Is it a place you are in, or going to?
Y, including places introduced by en, dans, sur or chez, not just à.
Tu vas à Lyon ? Oui, j’y vais demain.
Are you going to Lyon? Yes, I’m going there tomorrow.
- 4
Is there a number or a quantity word?
En, and the number stays at the end of the sentence.
Combien de frères as-tu ? J’en ai deux.
How many brothers do you have? I have two.
NBFrench cannot drop the noun and leave the number bare the way English does.
Side by side
Each one, in full
When to use y
Stands in for à + something.
Y stands in for à plus a thing. That covers two situations that look different but behave the same: a place you are going to or already in, and the object of a verb that happens to take à. Both reduce to the same pronoun because both are à phrases underneath.
It also absorbs the other place prepositions. Dans le tiroir, sur la table, chez le médecin all become y, so “is it a location?” is a faster test than working out which preposition was there.
Elle s’intéresse à la photographie. → Elle s’y intéresse.
She’s interested in photography. → She’s interested in it.
Les clés sont dans le tiroir ? Oui, elles y sont.
Are the keys in the drawer? Yes, they’re in there.
On y va ?
Shall we go?
NBThe most-used sentence in the language containing y, and the place it refers to is usually left unsaid.
When to use en
Stands in for de + something, or a quantity.
En covers de plus a thing: the object of verbs like parler de and avoir besoin de, and the place you have come from. It also does a job y has no equivalent for: it stands in for the noun after a quantity, which is why it turns up far more often in speech than learners expect.
That quantity use is obligatory, not optional. Where English drops the noun and leaves the number alone: “I have two”: French keeps en in front of the verb and puts the number after it.
J’ai besoin de ton aide. → J’en ai besoin.
I need your help. → I need it.
Tu veux du café ? Oui, j’en veux bien.
Do you want some coffee? Yes, I’d like some.
Elle revient de Paris. → Elle en revient.
She’s coming back from Paris. → She’s coming back from there.
Mistakes to avoid
What learners actually get wrong
Je vais y.
J’y vais.
Y and en go before the verb, never after it. The only exception is a positive command, where they follow and attach with a hyphen: vas-y, prends-en.
Combien en veux-tu ? J’ai trois.
Combien en veux-tu ? J’en ai trois.
A bare number is not a complete answer in French. En has to stand in for the noun that was dropped, even though the English equivalent leaves nothing behind.
J’y ai besoin.
J’en ai besoin.
Avoir besoin takes de, so it takes en. Deciding from the preposition rather than from the meaning is what makes this reliable, because the English “need it” gives you no signal at all.
Je pense d’elle tous les jours.
Je pense à elle tous les jours.
Penser à is the ordinary verb; penser de exists but means “have an opinion of” and appears mostly in questions. With a person, neither takes y or en, you use à elle or de lui.
Now use it
Les pronoms y et en
Which one replaces à + thing, and which one replaces de + thing. Reading a rule and being able to apply it are different skills, and only one of them shows up when you speak.
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Questions
Asked and answered
- Can y and en refer to people?
- Normally not. With a person you keep the preposition and use a stressed pronoun: je pense à elle, je me souviens de lui. Y and en with people does occur in casual speech, but it sounds careless in writing and no exam will reward it, so treat things-only as the rule.
- What order do they go in when both appear?
- Y comes before en, always: il y en a, “there is some”. That phrase is by far the most common place you will meet the two together, and learning it as a block rather than as a rule saves working it out mid-sentence.
- Why is it vas-y and not va-y?
- The imperative of aller normally drops its -s (va !), but the -s comes back before y and en so the words can link: vas-y, manges-en. It exists only to avoid two vowels colliding, and the same happens with -er verbs: parles-en.