can you say "Je en connais certains" instead of "Je connais certains d'entre eux"?

juke b.B1Kwiziq community member

can you say "Je en connais certains" instead of "Je connais certains d'entre eux"?

This question relates to:French lesson "Certain(e)s d'entre eux/elles = Some of them (French Indefinite Pronouns)"

Asked 7 years ago

AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Juke !

You could indeed use "en" to replace the group introduced by "de" :
"J'en connais certains."
There would be a slight nuance:
- "Je connais certains d'entre eux." = I know some of them.
- "J'en connais certains." = I know some [of them].
In the second case, there is less emphasis on "them".

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Like37 years ago

Max K.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

It would IMO be more idiomatique and less stuffy to say J'en connais quelques-uns.

Like06 years ago

juke b. asked:

can you say "Je en connais certains" instead of "Je connais certains d'entre eux"?

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