Jonathan
The use of 'en' as an object pronoun I understand that 'en' as a pronoun can be used to replace any phrase introduced by the preposition de/d'. I'm confused by its use in another context which I found in a practise textbook. The English phrase given - which must be translated - is as follows: "I threw out my old phone because I did not want it anymore" French translation given: "j'ai jeté mon ancien téléphone parce que je n'en voulais plus" I thought it would have gone something like ... Ne le voulais plus ou je n'ai le voulu plus Could someone please explain this to me
Aug 3, 2015 4:25 PM
Answers · 2
1
Here, when we say "je n'en veux plus", we actually use the phrase "vouloir de quelque chose" and not "vouloir quelque chose". "Vouloir de quelque chose" means, in this context, that you don't want to keep something any more. So : je ne le veux plus = I don't want it anymore; je n'en veux plus = I don't want it anymore in the sense of I don't want to keep it anymore, for example because you don't have any need of it anymore. "Vouloir de quelque chose" can also mean that you accept something. These two meanings are the most common ones. Note that they are usually used in the negative form to mean "not to want to keep something anymore" or "to accept something". Example for the latter : je ne veux pas de cet argent = I don't want that money in the sense of I won't accept that money, for example because it's black money.
August 3, 2015
in fact, it's "vouloir de". Maybe you can try to find some explanation about this expression.
August 4, 2015
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