en vs dans

LynneA2Kwiziq community member

en vs dans

In an A1 focus test  I wrote"ton père est DANS la prison" because a prison is a physical enclosure. It was marked as incorrect. could you please explain why? Thanks.

Asked 3 years ago
MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

This follows basically the same distinction as the examples using “classe” in the lesson. 

Prison is treated as an abstract noun when referred to generally. We have a similar distinction in English  - we wouldn’t use an article in the abstract situation.

 Le voleur est en prison/the thief is in prison (imprisoned or incarcerated)- is the example in the lesson.

If referring to a specific physical place eg Il est dans la prison où l'émeute a eu lieu/ He is in the prison where the riot occurred. 

We would use an article in this context in English.

en vs dans

In an A1 focus test  I wrote"ton père est DANS la prison" because a prison is a physical enclosure. It was marked as incorrect. could you please explain why? Thanks.

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