Can you say Tu n’y étais pas instead of Tu n’ étais pas là to mean You wern’t there?
Using y or là for there
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Neil H.Kwiziq community member
Using y or là for there
This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate vouloir (+avoir) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)"
Asked 4 years ago

Hi Neil,
You would normally use 'y' when it replaces a specific place previously mentioned.
Tu vas à la plage ? Oui, j'y vais dans une heure = Are you going to the beach, yes I am going there in an hour's time
If someone just said out of the blue -
Tu y vas?
My answer would be
Où?
as unclear to where we are talking about.
Here is the Kwiziq lesson on how to use 'Y' -
In the Kwiz question, we don't know what 'there' stands for, so we use là.
Bonne Continuation!
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