Question regarding En vs Dans

MichaelA1Kwiziq community member

Question regarding En vs Dans

Hello. I answered the following exercise question incorrectly, selecting en instead of dans.

Les enfants sont ________ le métro.

The children are on the subway.
I recently read this guidance in a Quick Lesson and thought en would be the correct choice. Could both be considered correct?

When talking about travelling somewhere, you will use à for "individual" modes of transport (walking, bicycle, bike etc), and en for "group" modes of transport (bus, coach, car, subway, etc).

Thanks for the help!

Asked 1 year ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Michael,

The difference is that when you are stating in which means of transport you are, then you'll use "dans" (as in "inside"). Differences between French and English usages - Using "dans" with streets and means of transportation (French Prepositions of Location)

Je suis dans le bus = I am on the bus

If you are talking about how you are travelling, then you can use "en" for "group" modes of transport (bus, coach, car, subway, etc) or "à" for "individual" modes of transport (walking, bicycle, bike etc). À/en/par + [means of transportation] (French Prepositions)

Je voyage en bus = I am travelling by bus

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

JimC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Bonjour Michael,

This type of question has been answered many times in the past.

https://french.kwiziq.com/questions/view/en-vs-dans#

Try the link above  --  I think that it will help you

Bonne continuation

Jim

SarahA1Kwiziq community member

I confused about this two. I covered the topic about "dans" for on instead of sur when it comes to transportation and now I've just covered the prepositions of transport that says to use "á, en, par" with no mention of dans 😅

Question regarding En vs Dans

Hello. I answered the following exercise question incorrectly, selecting en instead of dans.

Les enfants sont ________ le métro.

The children are on the subway.
I recently read this guidance in a Quick Lesson and thought en would be the correct choice. Could both be considered correct?

When talking about travelling somewhere, you will use à for "individual" modes of transport (walking, bicycle, bike etc), and en for "group" modes of transport (bus, coach, car, subway, etc).

Thanks for the help!

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
I'll be right with you...