# FR: I will need it



## luvliekelly

Hi, there,
I was wondering how this sentence should be translated into French
"I will need it" (in the context that I will need the car, so I cant lend you)
Is it "J'en aurai besoin"? "Je l'aurai besoin"? "J'aurai besoin de lui"?
thank you very much!


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## Fred_C

Hi,
"J'en aurai besoin" is perfect.


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## luvliekelly

Hi, Fred C,
Thank you for the reply although I'm still very confused what exactly "en" replaces. I thought "en" can only replace indefinite nouns......that'll then make "j'en aurai besoin" to "i will need some?" thanks again!


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## Sopheebs

Hi luvliekelly,
The phrase 'I need...' is 'J'ai besoin *de*...' so the noun is always preceded by 'de' (or sometimes 'des'). 'En' replaces nouns which follow 'de/du/des' and 'y' replaces nouns which follow 'à/au/aux', so in this case, instead of saying 'J'aurai besoin *de la voiture*', you say 'J'*en* aurai besoin'.


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## luvliekelly

Hi,Sopheebs,
so "en" can mean "it" or "some" in English? (I thought "en" can only mean "some" "one"--indefinite instead of "it"--difinite) Thanks


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## Fred_C

Hi
You are right in saying that "en" can replace indefinite things, but you are wrong in saying that "en" can *only* replace indefinite things.
"En" has many uses and replacing indefinite things is only one of them.
Another use of "en" is replacing "de lui" or "d'elle" when the "lui" or "elle" does not stand for someone, but for a noun (masculine of feminine) describing an object.

You could have said "j'ai besoin d'elle" if elle meant a girl or a woman, but if you intend this pronoun to mean "une voiture", you must replace "d'elle" with "en".


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## Sopheebs

luvliekelly
I think I know what's confusing you - 'en' can indeed replace 'some', for example: 'I would like some cake' --> 'Je voudrais *du gâteau*' or 'J'*en* voudrais' but notice that the 'en' is replacing a noun which is preceded by 'de/du'. It is this that means you use 'en', rather than saying perhaps 'Je *le* voudrais', which would mean 'I want the (whole) cake.' Better?


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## cocottelabroue

_en_ est un pronom personnel complément. _en_ remplace, entre autres, un article indéfini, la préposition _de,_ un article partitif. Puisqu'il est pronom, il doit aussi remplacer un nom commun parfois un nom propre. 

Il peut avoir la fonction de complément d'objet direct ou la fonction de complément d'objet indirect.

Ex.1 Je mange des pommes. J'*en* mange. Je mange quoi? Des pommes. _En_ est C.O.D.
Ex.2 Je bois du vin. J'*en* bois. Je bois quoi? Du vin._ En_ est C.O.D.
Ex.3 Il parle de politique. Il *en* parle. Il parle DE quoi?_ En_ est C.O.I.
Ex.4 Il rêve de Julie. Il *en* rêve. Il rêve de qui? Julie. _En_ est C.O.I.

_En_ peut aussi remplacer un adjectif numéral et le nom qu'il détermine, toutefois on doit indiquer l'adjectif numéral à la fin de la phrase.

Ex.5 Je veux trois pommes. J'_en_ veux _trois_. Je veux quoi? Trois pommes. _En_ est C.O.D.


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## luvliekelly

Hi, Fred C,
I guess your explanation of-----
"en" is replacing "de lui" or "d'elle" when the "lui" or "elle" does not stand for someone, but for a noun (masculine of feminine) describing an object
cleared a lot of my confusion, thanks!

so, if I want to say "I need *the* cake."
do I say "J'en besion"?
(so, "en" *can *replace "it" in English then?)

and for a different verb "I want *the* cake."
"Je le voudrais"?

Thank you all for so many replies to such a confused French learner with "en"


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## luvliekelly

Hi,cocottelabroue,
I'm a bit confused with your Ex. 4
Ex.4 Il rêve de Julie. Il *en* rêve. Il rêve de qui? Julie. _En_ est C.O.I.

why is it not "Il rêve d'elle"?
Thanks!


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## Fred_C

luvliekelly said:


> so, if I want to say "I need the cake."
> do I say "J'en *ai* besoin"?


Yes, absolutely.


luvliekelly said:


> (so, "en" *can *replace "it" in English then?)


Not really. It replaces the whole "of it". (for French verbs that need the preposition "de".)



luvliekelly said:


> and for a different verb "I want *the* cake."
> "Je le voudrais"?


Oui, parfaitement.


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## Fred_C

luvliekelly said:


> Hi,cocottelabroue,
> I'm a bit confused with your Ex. 4
> Ex.4 Il rêve de Julie. Il *en* rêve. Il rêve de qui? Julie. _En_ est C.O.I.
> 
> why is it not "Il rêve d'elle"?
> Thanks!


 Hello again.
You are right, and Cocotte labroue is wrong.
You must say "il rêve d'elle", because "elle" is not a reference to a feminine noun describing a thing, it is a girl.

As a matter of fact, it can happen sometimes (for absolutely obscure reasons) that a French native will make a mistake and use "en" instead of "de lui" or "d'elle" when referring to a person, but the converse mistake, (using "de lui" or "d'elle" when speaking about an object will never happen.)


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## luvliekelly

Hi, Fred C,
Thank you very much. I think I'm getting the idea now!


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