One way we haven’t seen en used yet is when it appears with an imperative.
But first, remember from #1060 how you saw sentences like the ones below?
J’en achète un.
I buy one (of them).
J’en obtiens un.
I get one (of them).
J’en ai acheté un.
I bought one (of them).
J’en ai obtenu un.
I got one (of them).
In that post, you learned about where en goes in those sentences and what it means. If you haven’t read that post yet, start there.
I saw this sign in front of a shop in Montréal:
On the sign, we read:
Achetez-en 1
Obtenez-en 1
à 50% de rabais
Buy 1 (of them)
Get 1 (of them)
at half price
En means the same thing here as in #1060, but the position of it is different with the imperative. Take note of where it goes:
prends-en un!
prends-en deux!
achètes-en une!
take one (of them)!
take two (of them)!
buy one (of them)!
In the same way that you can’t say je veux un, you can’t say prends deux. Instead, you say j’en veux un (I want one, I want one of them) and prends-en deux (take two, take two of them).
But take note: when –er verbs (like acheter) are used in the imperative, second-person singular (i.e., the tu form), there’s no s on the end of the verb:
tu achètes
but:
achète!
and not:
achètes!
However…
The s gets put back on when en follows:
achètes-en!
achètes-en un!
achètes-en un nouveau!
buy some (of them)!
buy one (of them)!
buy a new one (of them)!
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Keep reading about en:
