Level: B1 (Intermediate)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
The French Word of the Day is the object pronoun y, which has many meanings including “there”. Instead of dragging you through long grammar explanations, I’ve given you 7 no-nonsense examples you can start using right away to sound more natural in French.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
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📘 Y – Meaning and usages
The French object pronoun y is used to replace inanimate things and ideas after verbs followed by à (to/at). It can mean “there,” but it also replaces phrases like “to it” or “about it” and sometimes “them.” You’ll hear it all the time with verbs such as penser à, aller à, and répondre à, and anytime the place, idea, or thing has already been mentioned or is understood.
✅ Je vais à la plage → J’y vais.
✅ Je pense à mon avenir → J’y pense.
✅ Je réponds à la question → J’y réponds.
Y can also replace places introduced with other prepositions like dans (in), en (in), or sur (on) when the location is already understood:
✅ Il dort dans la voiture → Il y dort.
🎧 Y pronunciation
👉 The pronunciation of y is /i/ — just like the English letter “E.”
📝 French and English example sentences
1. Aller + y (to replace “à” + place)
Je vais à l’école. J’y vais tous les jours.
I go to school. I go there every day.
2. Penser à + y (to replace “à” + thing)
Tu penses à ton examen ? Oui, j’y pense souvent.
Are you thinking about your exam? Yes, I think about it often.
3. Expression Il y a (there is/are)
Il y a un chat dans le jardin.
There is a cat in the yard.
4. Expression “y arriver” (to manage/succeed at something)
C’est difficile, mais j’y arrive.
It’s difficult, but I’m getting through it.
5. Expression “Ça y est” (done! / there!)
Ça y est, le cours commence !
Here we go, the class is starting!
6. Imperative + y (familiar “vas-y”)
Vas-y, ouvre la porte !
Go on, open the door!
7. Imperative + y (polite/plural “allez-y”)
Allez-y, monsieur.
Go ahead, sir.
👉 See also: French pronoun “en” (similar to y but for verbs followed by de) »
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- en — the other adverbial pronoun (replaces “de” + thing)
- lui / leur — indirect object pronouns for people (vs. y for things)
- y arriver — expression meaning “to manage / succeed at something”
- s’y connaître — to be knowledgeable about something
- s’y faire — to get used to something
- il y a — expression meaning “there is / there are”
➡️ Related lessons
In today’s lesson I touched on the following words and expressions:
👉 Il y a (there is/there are) »
👉 Ça y est (done/there) »
👉 Monsieur (Sir, Mr.) »
👉 lui (him/her) »
👉 leur vs. leurs (them vs. their) »
👉 En vs. dans (in) »
👉 Aller (to go) conjugation charts »
👉 French object pronouns »
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👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French adverbs overview »
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