Learn French Pronoun Y
FRENCH PRONOUN “Y”
Learn how to use French Pronoun Y
Transcript of this French grammar lesson
SALUT !
Welcome to « Oh la la, I Speak French ! ». Let’s learn how to use French pronoun « y ». You probably know the expression :
IL Y A = there is/there are
And if you’ve been to France, you may have heard it in everyday expressions such as :
J’Y VAIS – I’m off
ON Y VA – We’re off
VOUS Y ALLEZ ? – Are you off ?
NON, RESTEZ AVEC MOI, C’EST PAS FINI !
J’Y VAIS essentially means, I’m going « there », « I’m off »
The pronoun « Y » indicates a location away from here. As any other pronoun, it replaces the noun. Here it replaces a location.
OÙ EST-CE QUE JE VAIS ?
If I say :
JE VAIS AU MARCHÉ, MES PARENTS Y SONT.
What does « Y » replace here ? It replaces AU MARCHÉ « at the market ». My parents are at the market. ILS Y SONT.
If I say :
TU PEUX VENIR CHEZ MOI, J’Y SUIS.
Y replaces CHEZ MOI and allows us to avoid the repetition. It is placed right before the verb. J’Y SUIS. I’m there, meaning at home.
You practice now, rephrase what I’m saying to get rid of the repetition:
TU VAS À LA PLAGE. APPELLE MES AMIS, ILS SONT DÉJÀ À LA PLAGE.
So ? What will that become after your new grammatical magic trick ?
TU VAS À LA PLAGE. APPELLE MES AMIS, ILS Y SONT DÉJÀ
One last note, not really logical, but then you should know by now that we, Frenchies like to complicate things as much as possible !
So, if you say MES PARENTS SONT AU MARCHÉ and want to add VA AU MARCHÉ without having the repetition, what are you going to say ?
MES PARENTS SONT AU MARCHÉ. VA-Y ? – That would be logical right ?
But, let’s face it, it’s not pretty, right ? That’s why we’ll say VAS-Y.
An S is going to come and snuggle between VA and -Y so that we have VAS-Y !
That’s it, you now master the use of pronoun Y. BRAVO.
See you soon !
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