Take the fastest path to fluent French
In French, the adverbial pronoun "y" is used to refer to a place that has already been mentioned.
Learn about the pronoun "y" in French
Look at these two examples:
J'y vais.I'm going there.
Nous y passons tous les soirs.We pass there every night.
Notice that to refer to a place previously mentioned in French, you use the pronoun y ('there').
Note also that "y" is placed before the conjugated verb.
Look at how "y" can replace locations introduced by the following prepositions: à, sur, chez, dans :
Tu vas à l'école ? - Oui, j'y vais.Are you going to school? - Yes, I'm going there.
Paul est arrivé à Paris hier ? - Oui, Paul y est arrivé hier.Did Paul arrive in Paris yesterday? - Yes, Paul arrived there yesterday.
Elle a posé les clés sur la table ? - Oui, elle y a posé les clés.Did she put the keys on the table? - Yes, she put the keys there.
Tu passeras par chez elle ? - Oui, j'y passerai plus tard.Will you pop by her place ? - Yes, I'll pop by [there] later.
Qu'est-ce que tu mets dans cette boîte ? - J'y mets mes bijoux.What do you put in that box? - I put my jewellery in there.
Depuis quand habite-t-il chez Laurent ? - Il y habite depuis janvier.Since when has he lived at Laurent's place? - He's lived there since January.
BUT
You cannot replace the expression "de + a place" by "y". You will always use "en" instead:
Il vient de la piscine ? - Oui, il en vient.Is he coming from the swimming pool? - Yes, he is coming from there.
See En can replace de + [phrase] (French Adverbial Pronouns)
and more advanced cases with Y can replace à + [thing/object/location] (French Adverbial Pronouns)
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
