en sont

LeC1Kwiziq community member

en sont

"Les comédiens en sont à leur dix-neuvième jour de travail."  Why "en" sont?
Asked 1 year ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Le, 

The idiomatic expression - en être à son + ordinal number 

is better explained with examples: 

J'en suis à mon troisième verre de vin ce soir !This is my third glass of wine tonight !

Je me demande comment ce délinquant en est à son troisième délit en un mois I am wondering how this delinquant is at his third crime within one month 

Elle en est à son quatrième mari !She is on her fourth husband!

Hope these help!

 

TomC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I assume it's because the phrase 'leur dix-neuvième jour de travail' begs the question 'their 19th day of work of what? (The answer being: their 19th day of work of [whatever it is they're doing]).

LeC1Kwiziq community member

Thank you for your help.  I managed to ask an experienced French French teacher, who has told me that - in terms of the sentence I posted - it means in essence to have reached.  That is, they reach their 19th day of work.  Maybe, in English "They are up to their 19th day...."  This appears to me to correspond with Cecile's comments. Thank you very much for your efforts. I'm not sure that I'm sufficiently comfortable with it yet, however and might wait awhile before using it myself.

en sont

"Les comédiens en sont à leur dix-neuvième jour de travail."  Why "en" sont?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Clever stuff happening!