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French frequency list

No. 54 in French

y

"Y" is a pronoun meaning "there" or replaces "to it/them" for previously mentioned places or things introduced by "à."

In a sentence

  • J'y vais demain pour rencontrer mon ami.

    I'm going there tomorrow to meet my friend.

    The word 'y' is used as a pronoun to indicate a location, replacing a previously mentioned place.

  • Il croit qu'il y a une solution à ce problème.

    He believes there is a solution to this problem.

    Here, 'y' refers abstractly to the existence or presence of something, as part of the phrase 'il y a' meaning 'there is' or 'there are'.

  • Je m'y intéresse depuis longtemps.

    I have been interested in it for a long time.

    In this sentence, 'y' refers to an abstract concept or object implied by the context, commonly used with verbs requiring the preposition 'à'.

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