# FR: trouve-t'en



## sensa

Does this mean "Find some"?


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## jlmeurisse

Context (words/sentence before and after) would be very useful !!

"en" means probably "from it/this",  it/this being the reason why he/she should find himself/herself (well, better,... ?)


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## sensa

There is no context. I need to be able to know what little sentences like this mean. I also need to know why it wouldn't be "trouve-te le" if it is "find it"


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## jlmeurisse

sensa said:


> There is no context. I need to be able to know what little sentences like this mean. I also need to know why it wouldn't be "trouve-te le" if it is "find it"


Hi Sensa
find it => trouve le
"trouve-te le" seems not correct, rather "trouve-le toi" => find it yourself, or find it by yourself, for yourself etc.

Coming back to "Trouve-t'en", I imagined a possible context:
[Tu as perdu ton stylo.] "_*Trouve-t'en*_" [un autre] = [You lost your pen]. *Find yourself* [another one].
(not sure it is good English but maybe it helps


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## sensa

Thanks....but I am still confused. in your example, why couldn't it be "Trouve-le" instead of "trouve-en"?

I learned that you use "en" to replace partitive (de, de la) and indefinite articles (un, une, des) with verbs. "En" means "from there" or "some" or "any". I just don't know why "en" is used in this sentence rather than "le" to replace "ton stylo"


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## geostan

sensa said:


> Thanks....but I am still confused. in your example, why couldn't it be "Trouve-le" instead of "trouve-en"?
> 
> I learned that you use "en" to replace partitive (de, de la) and indefinite articles (un, une, des) with verbs. "En" means "from there" or "some" or "any". I just don't know why "en" is used in this sentence rather than "le" to replace "ton stylo"



Trouve-t'en means Find some for yourself, although I would probably use Cherche-t'en rather than Trouve-t'en.

Cheers!


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## Canard

Because when you use "un/une" + adjective to modify this "le", you automatically need "en". Think of it as "Give me a good one [of them]".

Fais-le. Fais-*en un bon* cette fois.
Donne-le-moi. Donne-m'*en une bon marché*.


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## jann

Sensa, I'm confused!   Did you write _trouve-t'en_ yourself, or did you find it in a book?  It just doesn't look right to me!

Usually we say _trouver + qqch
__Trouve le stylo !  - _Find the pen!
_Trouve-le !_ - Find it!
_J'ai trouvé le stylo _- I found the pen._
Je l'ai trouvé _- I found it.
_Trouve un stylo !  _- Find a pen.
_J'en ai trouvé un. - _I found one.

_Trouve les stylos !_ - Find the pens!
_Trouve-les !_ - Find them!
_Je les ai trouvés - _I found them.
_J'en ai trouvé deux. _- I found two of them.

_Trouve-toi un stylo !_ - Find yourself a pen!
_Trouve-t-en *un* !_ - Find yourself *one*!

I somehow see _trouve-t*-*en _as being more probable than _trouve-t*'*en_, but above all you need the _un_ at the end!  (Just as we say _j'en ai un_ instead of simply _j'en ai._)


EDIT:  I see others typed their answers much faster than I did!


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## geostan

I somehow see _trouve-t*-*en _as being more probably than _trouve-t*'*en_, but above all you need the _un_ at the end!  (Just as must say _j'en ai un_ instead of simply _j'en ai._)


No. Un is not always required at the end.  If the "en" is replacing a partitive or  an indefinite plural, en alone is correct. Further, the use of the hyphen instead of the apostrophe is a common error, but it is incorrect. 

Cheers!


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## jann

> No. Un is not always required at the end. If the "en" is replacing a partitive or an indefinite plural, en alone is correct. Further, the use of the hyphen instead of the apostrophe is a common error, but it is incorrect.


Thank you for these corrections geostan, but I would be much more comfortable if you could perhaps give me an example sentence or send me to a source...


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## geostan

jann said:


> Thank you for these corrections geostan, but I would be much more comfortable if you could perhaps give me an example sentence or send me to a source...



Sure. How about this?

- J'ai besoin de sucre.
- Je crois qu'il y en a dans ma cuisine, mais je n'ai pas le temps d'en chercher. Mais cherche-t'en.

I can see why some speakers are at odds with the construction. It might be more common to say something like:  cherches-en toi-même.

But grammatically, the construction is irreproachable. Consider the very common Va-t'en.

Cheers!


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## jann

> But grammatically, the construction is irreproachable.



Ah yes, I see what you're saying now!  My fault!  My statement about "needing _un_ at the end" was referring to my specific examples with _trouver_, and I was still very much in that definite/non-partitive context (mentally) when I read your post, so I rather misunderstood what you were saying! 

And I do agree with you that speakers probably often just use an alternate structure to avoid _trouve-t'en, cherche-t'en_ and the like!


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## itka

jann said:


> And I do agree with you that speakers probably often just use an alternate structure to avoid _trouve-t'en, cherche-t'en_ and the like!



That's right ! These structures are very odd and you would more often *hear  :
*"Trouve-toi-z'en (un) !" than "trouve-t'en (un)" 

e.g. :
"Tu as des bonbons ? Tu m'en donnes ?
- Trouve-toi-z'en toi-même !"

Of course, I'm speaking about colloquial language (almost childish), never written so.

*Chercher* would very seldom be used alone that way. I think we would use *"aller chercher" :*
"Va t'en chercher toi-même !"


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## PatriceD

You need glasses for swimming?
Trouve-t'en ! (leave mine!)

 Sorry for my English


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