en venir à, en être

Question

I have recently started to notice verb structures using en, where the en turns out not to be a pronoun, but seems to be part of an expression. I am having trouble translating
en venir à
en être
S'en vouloir would seem to fall into the same category. I don't know if there are other verbs like this. Is there a general way to interpret the en in these cases?
Paula

Accepted Answer

Oh, sorry, forgot those. 
Tu en es? -- Are you up for it?
en venir aux mains  -- to come to blows  
en venir au fait  -- to get to the point
en venir à faire -- to come to do
You see, all of these are more or less idiomatic. But very useful nonetheless.
-- Chris

Answer

Hi Paula,
the little wlrd "en" is a veritable cameleon in the jungle of the French language. It is used frequently and in many idiomatic expressions, not just as a substitute for something introduced by "de". In such cases it isn't very useful to try to get one's head around a meaningful translation. Just accept the entire phrase as what it is: an idiom. Here are a few example:
Je m'en vais. -- I am leaving.Je m'en fiche. -- I don't care (about that). It's all the same to me.Ne m'en veux pas, s'il te plaît. -- Dont' hold it against me, please. Dont be angry with me.
I hope that helps, -- Chris (not a native speaker).

P.S.: Here is a link with more examples and a brief exercise: https://www.tolearnfrench.com/cgi2/myexam/voir2r.php?id=7396

Answer

Thanks Chris.  That was really helpful, and thanks for the link.  Just to return to my original query what do 'en venir à' and 'en être' translate as?
regards Paula