French preposition
The preposition en can be summarized as "to or in," but it’s a bit more complicated than that.
1) Location or destination | |||
Il habite en Provence. | He lives in Provence. | ||
Nous allons en France. | We’re going to France. | ||
2) Point in or period of time | |||
La réunion aura lieu en été. | The meeting will take place in the summer. | ||
Je l’ai fait en cinq minutes. | I did it in five minutes. | ||
3) Description | |||
en cercle | in a circle | ||
en bois | made of wood | ||
4) Transformation | |||
Il faut le couper en deux. | You need to cut it in two. | ||
Elle sera transformée en parfum. | It will be turned into perfume. | ||
5) Means of transportation | |||
Je vais à la plage en taxi. | I’m going to the beach in a taxi. | ||
Il préfère voyager en train. | He prefers traveling by train. | ||
6) Clothing | |||
J’ai vu un homme en chapeau noir. | I saw a man in a black hat. | ||
Il faut être en cravate. | You have to wear a tie. | ||
7) Analogy | |||
Il a agi en tyran. | He acted like a tyrant. | ||
Je te le donne en cadeau. | I’m giving it to you as a gift. | ||
8) Gerund | |||
Il l’a dit en pleurant. | He said it while crying. | ||
En partant, elle est tombée. | While leaving, she fell. | ||
9) After verbs | |||
Many verbs must be followed by en in front of a noun. |
En is usually followed directly by a noun, with no article in between. Learn more: Prepositions with nouns.
Note: En is also an adverbial pronoun.
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