I remember the first French textbook I had at school was titled ‘En route’, or ‘On the Way’. That was over forty years ago; I’ve travelled a long way down that road of learning French, and I’m still enjoying travelling along it. There is another article looking at how ‘en‘ is used as a pronoun, but this article looks at ‘en‘ as a preposition – in other words when it is followed by a noun.
En can be used to mean ‘in’ or ‘to’ a country that is feminine:
J’habite en France. – I live in France.
Ils partent en Suisse. – They are going to Switzerland.
Here are some other expressions using ‘en’ as a preposition:
en fait – in fact
en face de – opposite
La banque est en face de la gare. – The bank is opposite the station.
en classe – in class
Les élèves sont en classe. – The pupils are in class.
En + present participle = ‘while doing’
Je me suis endormi en lisant. – I fell asleep whilst reading.
On est sorti en courant. – We ran out.
Ma soeur est allée en ville. – My sister has gone into town.
Nous pourrions le faire en deux mois. – We could do it in two months.
en voiture/avion/bateau – by car/plane/boat
Ils n’aiment pas voyager en voiture. – they don’t like travelling by car.
être en bleu – to be in blue
Elle est arrivée en robe de soirée. – She arrived in an evening dress.
Ca se vend en paquets de dix. – It’s sold in packets of ten.
en français/anglais – in French/English
Est-ce que vous avez le même article en rouge? – Do you have the same item in red?
C’est en quoi? – What’s it made of?
La bague est en or/argent. – The ring is in silver/gold.
mesurer en centimètres – to measure in centimetres, etc.
With thanks to Elizabeth Allen
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