Ton père est ________ prison.

Question

Prison seems like a pretty specific place... so why 'en' instead of 'dans la'?

Accepted Answer

Hi Inga Marie,
This has been asked many times and the answer is in the Q& A at the bottom of the lesson....

Answer

Are you referring to "‘Je suis en prison’ puts the emphasis on the fact you are ‘incarcerated’  and not maybe visiting someone in prison."  Still seems counterintuitive to me, but also not something I'll be saying so maybe it doesn't matter. I don't see how it puts emphasis on incarceration.

Answer

Hi Inga,
 If we were to say " Your father is doing time" ( slang for being in prison)  for "Ton père est en prison"  , would that make it clearer , as it is what it means....