en.
in (used to indicate space, also see usage notes)
Meaning & usage
in (used to indicate space, also see usage notes)
J'habite en Angleterre.
to (indicates direction towards certain very large locations, see usage notes)
Il est allé en France.
by (used to indicate means)
aller en bus
partir en voiture
as
Il me traite en ami.
habillé en père Noël
at (used to describe an ability)
fort en histoire
of, made of (used to describe composition)
une chaise en hêtre
une fourchette en métal
in (during the following time (used for months and years))
en 1993
en janvier
while
by, in (describing a way of getting something)
C'est en trichant qu'il est devenu champion.
in (used to describe color)
une photo en noir et blanc
in (used to describe feelings)
en détresse
in (as part of something)
en équipe
Where this word comes from
From Middle French en, from Old French en, from Latin in, from Proto-Italic *en, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”).
Used as the object of a verb to indicate an indefinite quantity; of it, of them. Replaces the partitive article (du, de la, etc.)
Essaies-en !
Tu as combien de livres ? J'en ai trois.
Adverbial preposition indicating movement away from a place already mentioned; from there, from it. Replaces the phrase de là or d’ici.
Est-ce qu'elle vient de Barcelone ? Oui, elle en vient.
Where this word comes from
From Latin inde (“thence”). Compare Catalan en, Italian ne.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.