en versus à

Karen B.A1Kwiziq community member

en versus à

My answer to a question in the quiz wasn't in the dropdown. Please could you explain why the phrase My little boy is in kindergarten uses 'en' instead of mon petit garçon est à l'école maternelle? Thank you.

Asked 2 months ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

To be in kindergarten can mean two different things in English, which are only becoming clear in the context.

"My boy is in kindergarten," meaning that he is, e.g., old enough and is a kindergarten child. On the other hand, it could also mean that, right now, he's not at home but at the kindergarten right this moment. These two meanings are differentiated in French by which preposition you use:

Mon fils est en école maternelle. -- He might not be there right now but in principle he goes to kindergarten.

Mon fils est à l'école maternelle. -- He is in kindergarten right now.

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Bonjour Karen,

I suspect this is a reasonable reason:-

 "Préposition marquant en général la position à l'intérieur d'un espace, d'un temps, d'un état."

My reference is https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/en.

Bonne journée

Jim

en versus à

My answer to a question in the quiz wasn't in the dropdown. Please could you explain why the phrase My little boy is in kindergarten uses 'en' instead of mon petit garçon est à l'école maternelle? Thank you.

Sign in to submit your answer

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
Let me take a look at that...