Is the use of the pronoun "y" still a mystery to you?

Vous ne vous y retrouvez pas encore? (You still can't wrap your head around it!)

When talking about places and locations in French, le pronom “y” comes in very handy.

Can you understand the following dialogue?

• Je vais passer mes vacances d’été en Provence.  Tu y es déjà allé(e)?
• Non, mais j’adorerais y passer quelques jours!

Here Are My Great Tips To Use le pronom “Y” In French!

When to use “y”?

What is “y” used for and in which situation do we use it?

In French, we use le pronom “y” to :

• Replace a location / the word “there”
  • Je vais à Zurich ce matin. (I’m going to Zurich this morning.)
  • Tu y vas souvent? (Do you often go there?)
  • Oui, j’y travaille du lundi au mercredi. (Yes, I work thereMonday to Wednesday.)

• Replace something introduced by the preposition “à”
  • Je pense à mes vacances . (I’m thinking about my holiday.)
  • Tu y penses souvent? (Do you often think about it?)
  • Oui, j’y pense constamment! (Yes, I constantly think about it!)

• In various expressions:
  • Il y a beaucoup de monde ce matin. (There is a lot of people this morning.)
  • Ça y est! (Voilà = There you go!  When something is done.)
  • On y va? (Shall we go?  Let’s go!)
  • Il y a trois ans, j’habitais à Lausanne. (Three years ago, I was living in Lausanne.)

La recette de grammaire de Marine

Watch our recette de grammaire to better understand how to use "le pronom y" in French!

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I hope you now have more tools to help you better use le pronom "y" in your daily conversation in French.