Simple Prepositions – Literal & Idiomatic Uses Part 5

Sep20

Part 5 in this series.

en – in

Note that en is almost followed by a noun without an article. En is used to translate “in” before the year, the names of months, or the seasons of summer, autumn, and winter – but spring is au printemps.

  • “Le projet de loi fut voté en 2010.” | “The bill was passed in 2010.”
  • “Il faut visiter la Provence en automne, en octobre par exemple.” | “Provence should be visited in autumn, in October, for example.”

En is used to translate “in” or “to” in references to a feminine country (but use au for a masculine country).

  • “Vous allez en Espagne cet été ?” | “Are you going to Spain this summer?”
  • “Nous avons des succursales en Italie.” | “We have branches in Spain.”

En is used to translate “in” meaning the time needed to do something.

  • “Le garage pourra tout faire en deux heures.” | “The garage will be able to do everything in two hours.” (i.e.: will take two hours)

En is used to translate “as/like” after such verbs as:

  • se comporter en adulte | to behave like an adult
  • se déguiser en cowboy | to dress up as a cowboy
  • traiter quelqu’un en ami | to treat someone as a friend

En is used to translate “into” after verbs denoting “changing into”, “dividing into”.

  • “Ce bureau sera réaménagé en salle de conférence.” | “This office will be turned into a conference room.”
  • “Mon grand-père répartit ses terres en cinq lotissements.” | “My grandfather divided his land up into five plots.”

En can be used to translate the idea of “made of” or “in” for colors.

  • une bouteille en plastique | a plastic bottle
  • une chope en étain | a pewter mug
  • être habillé en noir et blanc | to be dressed in black and white

En is used to translate “by” in references to most mechanized forms of transport.

  • “Vous allez faire le voyage en avion ou en voiture ?” | “Are you going to travel by plane or by car?”

entre – between

“Le courrier arrive entre huit et neuf heures.” | “The mail/post arrives between eight and nine o’clock.”

“Nous habitons entre Bergerac et Castillon-la-Bataille.” | “We live between Bergerac and Castillon-la-Bataille.”

Entre is used to translate “between/from” with verbs of selecting or choosing.

  • “J’ai dû faire le choix entre les deux modèles.” | “I had to choose between the two models.”

Entre is used to translate “among”.

  • “Nous parlons souvent entre amis.” | “We often speak of it among friends.”

D’entre is used instead of entre to translate “of/among” before a disjunctive pronoun.

  • “Nous avons consulté plusieurs d’entre eux.” | “We consulted several of them.”

envers – towards

Envers is used to translate “towards” in the sense of attitudes or emotions towards people (not literal movement towards – that would be à and vers).

  • “Le juge se montra sévère envers les malfaiteurs.” | “The judge was harsh towards the offenders.”

So I’ve calculated that there should be about three more posts in this series. Thanks for your patience, I know this has been quite long!

Have a great week, everyone!

A la prochaine…

Courtney

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