can you say "Je en connais certains" instead of "Je connais certains d'entre eux"?

juke b.B1Kwiziq community member

can you say "Je en connais certains" instead of "Je connais certains d'entre eux"?

Asked 7 years ago
AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
Bonjour Juke !

You could indeed use "en" to replace the group introduced by "de" :
"J'en connais certains."
There would be a slight nuance:
- "Je connais certains d'entre eux." = I know some of them.
- "J'en connais certains." = I know some [of them].
In the second case, there is less emphasis on "them".

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Max K.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
It would IMO be more idiomatique and less stuffy to say J'en connais quelques-uns.

can you say "Je en connais certains" instead of "Je connais certains d'entre eux"?

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