--- title: "The French pronouns y and en: when to use each one" description: "When to use the French pronouns y and en: what they replace, where they go and the mistakes English speakers make, with examples and an exercise." url: "https://laclassefrancaise.es/en/blog/french-pronouns-y-and-en" lang: "en" author: "Thierry Gustin" published: "2026-10-30" updated: "2026-11-07" --- # The French pronouns y and en: when to use each one > **Key takeaways** — In French, the pronoun y replaces a place or a complement introduced by à (J'y vais: I am going there; J'y pense: I am thinking about it), and the pronoun en replaces a complement introduced by de or a quantity (J'en viens: I have come from there; J'en veux deux: I want two of them). Both go before the conjugated verb. English often leaves these words out ("Yes, I have two"), which is why English speakers tend to forget them. The **pronouns y and en** are among the shortest words in French and among the trickiest for English speakers, because English has no exact equivalent. "There", "of it" or "some" sometimes cover the same ground, but English can usually drop them, while French cannot. Yet French speakers use these pronouns in almost every conversation: mastering them makes your French sound more natural straight away. ## What does the pronoun y replace? **Y** replaces: - **A place** introduced by *à, en, dans, chez, sur…*: *Tu vas à Paris ? — Oui, j'y vais demain.* (Yes, I am going there tomorrow.) - **A complement introduced by à** that is not a person: *Tu penses à ton examen ? — Oui, j'y pense tout le temps.* (Yes, I think about it all the time.) Very common expressions with *y*: *il y a* (there is / there are), *ça y est* (that's it, done), *j'y vais* (I'm off, I'm going), *vas-y* (go on, go ahead), *on y va* (let's go). ## What does the pronoun en replace? **En** replaces: - **A complement introduced by de**: *Tu parles de ton voyage ? — Oui, j'en parle souvent.* (Yes, I often talk about it.) - **A place you come from**, with *de*: *Tu viens de la gare ? — Oui, j'en viens.* (Yes, I have just come from there.) - **A quantity or a partitive** (*du, de la, des, un, deux, beaucoup de…*): *Tu as des enfants ? — Oui, j'en ai deux.* (Yes, I have two.) *Tu veux du café ? — Oui, j'en veux bien.* (Yes, I'd love some.) With quantities, the number or expression of quantity stays at the end: *J'en ai **trois*** (I have three), *Il en a **beaucoup*** (he has lots), *Je n'en ai **pas*** (I don't have any). **Examples of y and en in use** | Question | Answer with y / en | What it replaces | | --- | --- | --- | | *Tu vas au cinéma ?* | *Oui, j'y vais.* | place (à) | | *Tu réfléchis à ma proposition ?* | *Oui, j'y réfléchis.* | complement with à | | *Tu as besoin de ton ordinateur ?* | *Oui, j'en ai besoin.* | complement with de | | *Tu bois du thé ?* | *Non, je n'en bois pas.* | partitive | | *Combien de livres as-tu ?* | *J'en ai cinq.* | quantity | ## Where do y and en go? - **Before the conjugated verb**: *J'y vais. J'en veux.* - **Before the auxiliary** in compound tenses: *J'y suis allé. J'en ai mangé.* - **Before the infinitive** if there is one: *Je vais y aller. Je veux en acheter.* - **After the verb in the affirmative imperative**, with a hyphen: *Vas-y ! Prends-en !* (note that *vas* gets its *s* back before *y*). - **In the negative**, *ne… pas* goes around the pronoun and the verb: *Je n'y vais pas. Je n'en veux pas.* ## What if it is a person? With people, *y* and *en* are normally replaced by a **stressed pronoun**: - *Je pense à Marie* → *Je pense à elle* (I am thinking about her), not ✗ *j'y pense*. - *Je parle de mon frère* → *Je parle de lui* (I am talking about him), not ✗ *j'en parle* in careful French. But with verbs that take **à + person**, such as *parler à, téléphoner à, écrire à*, you use the indirect object pronoun: *Je lui parle* (I am talking to him / her). I explain this in [French object pronouns](https://laclassefrancaise.es/en/blog/french-object-pronouns). ## Typical mistakes English speakers make 1. **Leaving out the pronoun**, as English does: "Do you have any brothers? Yes, I have two." ✗ *Oui, j'ai deux.* → ✓ *Oui, j'en ai deux.* 2. **Using le instead of en with a quantity**: ✗ *Je le veux un* → ✓ *J'en veux un.* (I want one.) 3. **Forgetting y with aller**: ✗ *Je vais demain* (in reply to "Are you going to Paris?") → ✓ *J'y vais demain.* Note: in the simple future, *y* is avoided before *irai*: *J'irai demain.* 4. **Putting it in the wrong place with an infinitive**: ✗ *J'y vais aller* → ✓ *Je vais y aller.* > **To remember it** — Look at the question: if the complement starts with **à** (or is a place), think **y**; if it starts with **de** (or is a quantity), think **en**. This simple rule solves the vast majority of cases. ## A short exercise Answer using *y* or *en* (answers below): 1. *Tu vas souvent à la plage ?* — Oui, ___ 2. *Tu as acheté du pain ?* — Oui, ___ 3. *Tu t'intéresses à la politique ?* — Non, ___ 4. *Tu reviens de Lyon ?* — Oui, ___ Answers: 1. *j'y vais souvent* · 2. *j'en ai acheté* · 3. *je ne m'y intéresse pas* · 4. *j'en reviens*. If you want to check whether a verb takes *à* or *de*, dictionaries such as [Le Robert](https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/) show how each verb is constructed, with examples. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does the "y" in "il y a" mean? *Il y a* means "there is" or "there are": *Il y a un problème.* (There is a problem.) In the past it is *il y avait* (there was / there were) or *il y a eu* (there was, as a one-off event), and in the future *il y aura* (there will be). ### Can en be used for people? In spoken French sometimes, but the correct form is the stressed pronoun: *Je parle de lui*. With quantities it is perfectly normal: *Des amis ? J'en ai beaucoup.* (Friends? I have lots.) ### Where does en go in the passé composé? Before the auxiliary: *J'en ai mangé.* (I ate some.) The past participle does not agree with *en*. ### What order do they go in when they appear together? Always *y* before *en*: *Il y en a* (there are some). — Thierry Gustin, Profesor nativo de francés · November 7, 2026