french

Note that while le, la, and les are used to replace people or inanimate objects, lui and leur are not used to
replace innanimate objects and things.
Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened
y
Indirect object pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by a.
Je réponds aux questions. - J' y réponds.
I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.
Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.
Replacement of places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preposition
except de (for which en is used).
Les hommes vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.
The men go to France - The men go there.
Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de.
Idioms
en
Ça y est! - It's done!
J'y suis! - I get it!
Replacement of a partitive construction
The pronoun en replaces a noun with a partitive article (l'article partitif: du, de la, de, des) at the front.
In this case En goes always with the singular, even if there are many items adressed.
Je veux du pain. => J'en veux. - I want some bread. => I want some.
Replacement of quantified nouns
If the quantity of the object is specified, "en" is used for the replacement of the noun.
Example: Il a acheté deux pommes. => Il en a acheté deux.
Note that no agreement is needed between the past participle (le participe passé) and the object (complément
d'objet direct).
Replacement of phrases with de
The pronoun en replaces prepositional phrases beginning with de if the object of the preposition is