Pronom y [102]

Ils y jouent avec leurs parents.

• aux échecs

• de la batterie

• le poker

Answer explanation

"y" always means "à + something". In French, we say "jouer à + (fun game OR sport with ball/team)".

The "something" was mentioned previously in the conversation or text.

Elle y pense souvent.

• à son ami.e

• à son voyage

• les vacances

Answer explanation

"y" never refers to a person and always means "à + something". In French, we say "penser à quelque chose".

The "something" was mentioned previously in the conversation or text.

Cet été, j'y vais.

• Europe

• chez mes parents

• du Mexique

Answer explanation

"aller" is followed by a location which is preceded by variety of preposition "à, chez, en, sur....". All of them (except "de") are replaced by "y".

The location has to be mentioned previously in the conversation or text.

Nous y allons pour le weekend.

[note 1 option for what "y" replaces]

Je peux y jouer souvent.

Answer explanation

For example, "au foot, au tennis, aux cartes, au scrabble, à Uno...".

Notice that the pronoun "y" is always placed in front the verb it relates to: in this case "jouer", not "peux".

On y mange bien.

[note 1 option for what "y" replaces]

Answer explanation

For example, "au restaurant, à la cantine...".

Your sentence can include a location, and potentially "y", for any activity: manger, travailler...

Ça te dit d'aller aux Seychelles ?

[Respond to this question, using "y" and "parce que OR pour"]

Answer explanation

1. 1. Désolé.e, je ne peux pas y aller. Je reste à Orlando pour travailler.

The "y" here refers to "les Seychelles" in the question and means "aux Seychelles".

pour + infinitive → share your objective with a specific action (here, staying in Orlando)

2. 2. C'est une excellente idée, parce qu'il y a de belles plages et on peut y nager et se détendre.

The "y" here refers to "plage" in the answer and means "à la plage".

parce que + S V O → share your reason/cause for a specific action (here, finding it an excellent idea)