By the end of this lesson you'll be able to replace a place or a thing after à with one tiny word, and you'll understand one of the most common phrases in French: On y va !
What y replaces
Y replaces à (or au, à la, à l', aux, as in the lesson on à and de with articles) together with a place or a thing that's already been mentioned.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| y | ee | there; it (after à) |
| On y va ! | oh-nee VAH | Let's go!Fixed phrase. |
| penser à | pahn-SAY ah | to think about |
A place:
Tu vas à Lille ? — Oui, j'y vais.
Are you going to Lille? — Yes, I'm going there.
Nous y habitons.
We live there.
Tu y es ?
Are you there?
Elle y reste.
She's staying there.
A thing, after a verb with à:
La lettre ? J'y réponds.
The letter? I'm answering it.
Tu joues au tennis ? Oui, j'y joue.
Do you play tennis? Yes, I play it.
Mon travail ? J'y pense.
My work? I'm thinking about it.
Where it goes
Y follows the same rules as the pronouns in the lesson on direct object pronouns. It goes before the verb, and it causes je and ne to shorten.
Je n'y vais pas.
I'm not going there.
After aller, pouvoir and vouloir, it goes before the infinitive.
Je vais y aller.
I'm going to go there.
Je veux y habiter.
I want to live there.
On y va
On y va ! is everywhere in French. It's a fixed phrase meaning "Let's go!", and you can use it whenever a group is ready to leave.
Person or thing?
Here's how to choose, using what you learned in the lesson on indirect object pronouns.
| After à | Pronoun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a person | lui / leur | Je réponds à Paul. → Je lui réponds. (I'm answering him.) |
| a place or a thing | y | Je réponds à la lettre. → J'y réponds. (I'm answering it.) |
There's one small complication. With penser à and a person, French uses à with a stressed pronoun, from the lesson on stressed pronouns: Je pense à lui (I'm thinking about him).
The y you already know
You've been using this word since A1, in il y a. It's the same little y, as part of a fixed phrase, and you don't need to think about it separately.
En français
- Tu vas au marché ? (Are you going to the market?)
- Oui, j'y vais samedi. Et toi ? (Yes, I'm going there on Saturday. And you?)
- Non, je n'y vais pas. Je vais à la piscine. (No, I'm not going there. I'm going to the pool.)
- Tu y vas à vélo ? (Are you going there by bike?)
- Oui. Tu veux y aller avec moi ? (Yes. Do you want to go there with me?)
- Oui ! On y va ! (Yes! Let's go!)
What's next
Next, the lesson on expressions of quantity shows you how to say "a lot of" and "a kilo of". After that comes the lesson on the pronoun en, which is a close relative of y.