Indefinite articles

Andy N.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Indefinite articles

When the lesson states that en, as a pronoun, can replace a noun + a quantity, is this effectively saying that en can replace any noun introduced by an indefinite article? (and the indefinite article itself too of course!)
Asked 8 years ago
LauraNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
Bonjour Andy,

Yes, that's exactly what it means.
Andy N.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
For example: As-tu une caméra ? - Oui j'en ai une.
Andy N.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Wow, I hadn't thought of it in those terms before. That really helps. Thank-you.
Becky L.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I had the question "I found ten eggs, and you? - Me, I found six." The answer was j'en ai trouvé six, but I wrote j'ai trouvé six because there was no specific reference to 'them'. I think the question should read "Me, I found six of them". This would make things much clearer.



Ian B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I had exactly the same problem.  I thought it was a trap where it was not translated as : "I have six of them" just I have six.  The obvious answer was "J'en ai six"  but I thought "...of them" had been deliberately missed to demand a different answer.  Non of the examples in the lesson illustrate this.

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Becky and Ian, 

The accepted answer is -

 J'en ai trouvé six = I have found six ( of them) 

If you said

Moi, j'en ai six 

You would be saying that you have six of them not specifying that you have found them which was being asked.

Hope this helps!

Indefinite articles

When the lesson states that en, as a pronoun, can replace a noun + a quantity, is this effectively saying that en can replace any noun introduced by an indefinite article? (and the indefinite article itself too of course!)

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