L’y (en. There)

/li/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

pronoun

Used to indicate a place or destination.

We will go there tomorrow.

Nous allons y aller demain.

Replaces a place complement preceded by 'à'.

He is thinking about his family. He thinks about it often.

Il pense à sa famille. Il y pense souvent.

Can express an idea of direction or proximity.

It’s late; we need to go there.

Il est tard, il faut y aller.

"It" is formed from the contraction of the pronoun 'le' or 'la' and 'y', an adverb of place.

to think about it

To have something in mind.

y penser

to get used to it

To acclimate to something.

s'y habituer

to go there

To go somewhere.

y aller

there

Adverbial pronoun of place.

that

Indicates a distant place.

là

Informal expression to signify an unspecified place.

You know it's over there; I told you, wait, we're going!

Tu sais bien que c'est là-bas, je te l'ai dit, attends, on y va !

Used casually to convey a lack of precision.

Don't pay attention to that; you know I'm talking about it, over there.

Fais pas attention à ça, tu sais que je parle de l'y, là.