Saturday, January 4, 2020
Y An Adverbial Pronoun That Replaces Prepositional Phrases
The French adverbial pronoun y is so tiny that you might think its role in a sentence is not very important, but, in fact, quite the opposite is true. This letter is extremely important in French.à Y refers to a previously mentioned or implied place; it is normally translated as there in English.à Using Y in French In French, the letter yà usually replaces a prepositional phrase beginning with something like à , chez, or dansà (at, in, or in),à as demonstrated in these examples, where the English sentence or sentences are followed by the French translation: à Are you going to the bank today? No, Im going (there) tomorrow. à Tu vas à la banque aujourdhuià ? Non, jy vais demain.Were going to the store. Do you want to go (there)? à Nous allons au magasin. Tu veux y aller?He was at Jeans house. He was there. à Il à ©tait chez Jean. Il y à ©tait. Note that there can often be omitted in English, but y can never be omitted in French. Je vais (Im going) is not a complete sentence in French; if you dont follow the verb with a place, you have to say Jy vais. Use Y to Replace a Noun Y can also replace à a noun that is not a person, such as with verbs that need à . Note that in French, you must include either à something or its replacement y, even though the equivalent may be optional in English. You cannot replace the noun with an object pronoun, as exhibited in the following examples: Im responding to a letter. Im responding (to it). à Je rà ©ponds à une lettre. Jy rà ©ponds.Hes thinking about our trip. Hes thinking about it. à Il pense à notre voyage. Il y pense. You have to obey the law. You have to obey it. Tu dois obà ©ir à la loi. Tu dois y obà ©ir.Yes, I attended the meeting. Yes, I attended (it). à Oui, jai assistà © à la rà ©union. Oui, jy ai assistà ©.Im going to think about your proposal. Im going to think about it. à Je vais rà ©flà ©chir à votre proposition. Je vais y rà ©flà ©chir. In most cases, à person may only be replaced by an indirect object. However, in the case of verbs that dont allow preceding indirect object pronouns, you can use y, as in this example: Pay attention to him. à Fais attention à lui, Fais-y attention. Y Dos and Donts Note that y usually cannot replace à verb, as in these examples, which show the correct way to create this construction: I hesitate to tell the truth. I hesitate to tell it. à Jhà ©site à dire la và ©rità ©. Jhà ©site à la dire.I continue to read Balzac. I continue to read him. à Je continue à lire Balzac. Je continue à le lire. Y is also found in the expressions il y a, on y va, and allons-y, which translate into English as, there is, lets go, and lets go, respectively.
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