what if both a and de are there in the sentence what am i supposed to use en or y ?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

8 December 2016

8/12/16

Bonjour Susan ! You will never use both "y" and "en" together in the same sentence. In such a case, you will use either "en" or "y" to replace one of the groups, and keep the original other group. "Je veux des bonbons à la plage." (I want sweets at the beach.) -> "J'y veux des bonbons." (Not my favourite option, it doesn't sound great to my French ears!) -> "J'en veux à la plage." I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !

Kalonde

Kwiziq community member

29 May 2017

29/05/17

"You will never use both "y" and "en" together in the same sentence." - I often hear the phrase "Y en a." in response to a question like "Il y a des pommes dans ce magasin?", for example. Is it then wrong to use "y" and "en" together in the above sentence?

Márcio

Kwiziq community member

16 February 2019

16/02/19

Hi Kalonde! It's more likely that you are hearing "Il en a" rather than "Y en a". They sound similar to our non-french ears when spoken fast, so it get us puzzled sometimes!

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

16 February 2019

16/02/19

Bonjour Kalonde!

The sentence you hear is "Il y en a" = there are some.

This would indeed be the only case where both are present in the same sentence, but only because "y" is part of the fixed expression "il y a" (there is/are).

Bonne journée!