Look at these sentences with the pronoun en:
Je viens de Paris. - J'en viens aussi !
I come from Paris. - I come from there too!
Que penses-tu de cette exposition ? - J'en pense le plus grand bien !
What do you think of this exhibition? - I think very highly of it.
Je m'occupe de mes problèmes. Je m'en occupe.
I'm dealing with my problems. I'm dealing with them.
Elle a besoin de vacances. Elle en a besoin.
She needs holidays. She needs them.
Notice that en as a pronoun can replace phrases introduced by the preposition de + [thing]/[object]/[location] (but not people), particularly with verbs that require de.
In such cases, you cannot replace the noun alone with a pronoun, you must replace the whole de + [noun] group with en.
ATTENTION:
Tu te moques de Paul et Daniel. - Non, je ne me moque pas d'eux !
You're mocking Paul and Daniel. - No, I'm not mocking them!
J'ai besoin de ma mère tous les jours. - J'ai besoin d'elle aussi.
I need my mother every day. - I need her too.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Je m'occupe de mes problèmes. Je m'en occupe.
I'm dealing with my problems. I'm dealing with them.
Je viens de Paris. - J'en viens aussi !
I come from Paris. - I come from there too!
J'ai des chocolats. - J'en ai.
I've got chocolates. - I've got some.
Il se sert de ses outils. - Je m'en sers aussi.
He's using his tools. - I'm using them too.
Tu joues de la trompette. - Tu en joues.
You play trumpet. - You play (it)
J'ai besoin de ma mère tous les jours. - J'ai besoin d'elle aussi.
I need my mother every day. - I need her too.
Je mange de la purée. - J'en mange.
I'm eating mash. - I'm eating some.
Tu te moques de Paul et Daniel. - Non, je ne me moque pas d'eux !
You're mocking Paul and Daniel. - No, I'm not mocking them!
Elle a besoin de vacances. Elle en a besoin.
She needs holidays. She needs them.
Que penses-tu de cette exposition ? - J'en pense le plus grand bien !
What do you think of this exhibition? - I think very highly of it.
Loading your KwizQ&A
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
25/04/16
In this case, "en" is just the preposition meaning "in", not the adverbial pronoun "en". We have "ne" + "que" = "only" and the "que" has contracted with "en" which is possibly what confused you?
"en photo" means "in photographic form" / "in photos".
Hope that helps!
Pavlina
Kwiziq community member
2/10/17
Andy
Kwiziq community member
3 January 2017
1 reply
Ce matin, elle en a trouvé une sous le sèche-cheveux
Hello. In the Week 29 B1 writing test, the above sentence appears as a translation for 'This morning, she found one under the hairdryer.' To begin with I was confused by the phrase appearing to have two objects. But after thinking about it could this sentence be read as: 'This morning, she found one (of them) under the hairdryer.' ~Thanks for your help
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
4 January 2017
4/01/17
Yes, that's exactly how this sentence works literally.
In French, you need to mention the thing that the quantity refers to, otherwise something is missing (She found one what?).
See the related lesson:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/the-adverbial-pronoun-en-means-of-them-with-quantities
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne Année !