Adverbial EN in Passé Composé

Aashpreet K.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Adverbial EN in Passé Composé

Are they correct depending on whether 'en' means it (singular) or them (plural)?

1.  Pierre m'en a offert. / Pierre m'en a offerte.  [Pierre offered some of it/them to me.](If COD/Direct Object - 'en' - it/them)

2.  J'ai mangé des chocolats. --> J'en ai mangés. [I ate them.]

Are agreement rules applicable in Passé Composé for 'en' when it is a Direct Object Pronoun ?

Asked 7 months ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

The participle will always be in masculine singular with en since en does not carry gender or number information and always replaces an indirect object.

Pierre a trois fleurs. Il m'en a offert une. -- Pierre has 3 flowers. He offered me one of them. Even though fleurs is feminine plural, you still use offert and NOT offertes.

Note that usually you would add a number after the en. It is, of course, grammatically correct without une, but it's just less common. Similarly:

Il y a deux morceaux de chocolat. J'en ai mangé un. -- There are two pieces of chocolate. I ate one of them.

Il y deux morceaux de chocolat. Je les ai tous mangés. -- There are 2 pieces of chocolate, I ate them all.

Note how in the last example you agree the participle with the COD (les).

Aashpreet K.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thanks a lot Chris! That's very helpful.

Adverbial EN in Passé Composé

Are they correct depending on whether 'en' means it (singular) or them (plural)?

1.  Pierre m'en a offert. / Pierre m'en a offerte.  [Pierre offered some of it/them to me.](If COD/Direct Object - 'en' - it/them)

2.  J'ai mangé des chocolats. --> J'en ai mangés. [I ate them.]

Are agreement rules applicable in Passé Composé for 'en' when it is a Direct Object Pronoun ?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...