The French Pronoun Y Replaces a Place or a Thing
You may have seen the following expressions and wondered why the French pronoun Y is there.
- On y va – Let’s go (there)
- Il y a – There is / There are
Scroll down to watch my comprehensive video tutorial on the French pronoun Y. You can download a free PDF of this lesson guide in my private French Grammar Library, and here’s a lesson on the pronoun EN.
| Y refers to a previously mentioned or implied place. Y is not used to replace a person. To replace people you need to use indirect object pronouns: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur |
| Y usually means there in English. Many times we don’t need to say there in English, but you can’t avoid it in French, and that’s why you need this pronoun. |
| The French pronoun Y usually replaces a prepositional phrase beginning with a preposition of location like à, chez , dans, sur, etc . |
| Y replaces a preposition (other than any form of de) + a place or a thing. |
Examples
In these examples the French pronoun Y means THERE.
| Are you going to the bank today? No, I’m going (there) tomorrow. | Tu vas à la banque aujourd’hui ? Non, j’y vais demain. *Note that Y goes right before the verb in the present tense. |
| She’s not going to the mall. She’s not going (there). | Elle ne va pas au centre commercial. Elle n’y va pas. *Note the placement of negation when using the pronoun Y. |
| We’re going to the store. Do you want to go (there)? | Nous allons au magasin. Tu veux y aller ? *Note that when you have an infinitive in the sentence, Y goes right before it. |
| He was at Jean’s house. He was there. | Il était chez Jean. Il y était. *Note that even when using another tense like the imperfect, Y goes right before the verb. |
| They waited in front of the restaurant. They waited (there). | Ils ont attendu devant le restaurant. Ils y ont attendu. *Note that in the passé composé, Y goes right before the helping verb. |
| I didn’t put the cards on the table. I didn’t put them there. | Je n’ai pas mis les cartes sur la table. Je n’y ai pas mis les cartes. *Note the placement of ne / pas when using Y with negation in the passé composé. |
The French pronoun Y sometimes replaces things
| The French pronoun Y refers to previously mentioned or implied things when they are preceded by À, AU, À LA, AUX, À L’ *This can be confusing because you will be tempted to replace a thing with direct object pronouns. Use a direct object pronoun when a thing is not preceded by À. |
| Many verbs in French are followed by the preposition À + THING, and it is with these verbs that you will often need to use the French pronoun Y. Remember not to use Y to replace people. |
| Here are just a few of the most common French verbs followed by À: Penser à something (like an idea) Je pense à ton idée. J’y pense. Réfléchir à something (like a problem) Tu réfléchis au problème? Tu y réfléchis? Arriver à faire something (like homework) Il arrive à faire ses devoirs. Il y arrive. S’habituer à something (like living in France) Je m’habitue à vivre en France. Je m’y habitue. Réussir à faire something (like understanding) Je réussis à comprendre ce qu’il me dit. J’y réussis. S’intéresser à something (like history) Nous nous intéressons à l’histoire. Nous nous y intéressons. Répondre à something (like an email) Vous répondez à son email. Vous y répondez. |
