In our last lesson, we learned that penser à means “to think about” or "have in mind" and that penser de means "to think of" in the sense of giving an opinion.  We also learned that penser à + infinitive means “to consider doing,” while penser + infinitive emphasizes planning an action. In this lesson, we will discuss which pronouns replace the de and à in penser de/à and what happens when penser is followed by a relative clause (penser que).

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As you may know, à + a noun can be replaced by the pronoun y, and de + a noun by the pronoun en. (You can learn more about that here and here.) So, penser à + noun becomes y penser (to think about it), and penser de + noun becomes en penser (to think of it, to feel about it). Remember that the pronouns y and en are placed before the verb. 

Elisa is interested in what her mother pense de la techonologie (thinks of technology). She asks her:

Qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?

What do you think of that?

Caption 12, Elisa et sa maman La technologie

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In the video below, en refers to what people thought about the confinement protocols during the pandemic:  

Globalement, malgré ce que les gens peuvent en penser, les mesures de restriction sont plutôt respectées.

Overall, despite what some people may think of them, the restriction measures are rather well respected.

Captions 33-34, Lionel L Le déconfinement

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Now let's see some examples with y penser (to think about it). In the video below, the speaker asks her friend to consider hiring help, as she will no longer be available:

Ben essaye d'y penser.

Well, try to think about it.

Caption 73, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai escroqué mon assurance ! - Part 2

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The speaker could have said the same thing in a more succinct way:

Penses-y.

Think about it.

(Notice that in the imperative mood, prepositions are tacked onto the end of the verb with a hyphen.) 

Or, the speaker could have been even more succinct:

Réfléchis.

Think about it.

(Réfléchis-y is more correct, but the pronoun y is often dropped from it in casual conversation.)

Sometimes we're reluctant to think about certain situations. In his song "Pocahontas," Grand Corps Malade mentions how some parents don’t dare think about the prospect of their children flying the nest for the first time: 

Ils reviendront vider leur chambre, ça j'ose même pas y penser

They'll come back to empty their room, I don't even dare think about that

Caption 32, Grand Corps Malade Pocahontas

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Speaking of thinking about people, y and en are NOT the right pronouns to use when thinking about a person. Y and en can replace an object, a thought, an idea, an action, a place, a situation, etc., but never a person or living being. In the latter case, we simply keep the prepositions à and de and use the construction penser à/penser de + disjunctive pronoun, as in penser à eux (to think about them), just as we do in English. For example, we say:

Je pense à mes parents. Je pense à eux.

I think about my parents. I think about them.

The same rule applies with penser de, when giving an opinion about people:

Alors, qu'est-ce que les Québécois pensent de nous ?

So, what do the Québécois think of us?

Caption 42, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 11

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We’re not quite done with penser! There's one more important thing to know that has to do not with pronouns, but with tenses. When you use the negative relative clause ne pas penser que (to not think that), you must conjugate the following verb in the subjunctive, since you're expressing doubt or skepticism. The speaker in this video doubts that the common quail is endangered:

Personnellement, je ne pense pas qu'elles soient menacées.

Personally, I do not think they are endangered.

Caption 31, Canal 32 Les secrets des cailles des blés

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However, in the affirmative (penser que), the verb is conjugated in the indicative. If the speaker did think they were endangered, he would have said:

Personnellement, je pense qu'elles sont menacées.

Personally, I think they are endangered.

The subjunctive mood is also required when you use penser que in a question:

Pensez-vous qu’il soit trop tard ?

Do you think it’s too late?

As you can see, there are many rules to consider when it comes to penser! We hope this lesson will help you y penser (think about them). Thank you for reading!

French verbs take on many endings, which can be a challenge to a new learner. Not to mention that some irregular verbs bear little resemblance to their original infinitive forms when conjugated. And a small group of verbs have unique characteristics that may surprise you. So let’s take a tour of these weird and wonderful things called verbs.

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Did you know that the shortest conjugated verb in French is only one letter long, a, as in il/elle a (he/she has)?

Et il a des révélations à lui faire.

And he has some revelations to make to him.

Caption 2, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon père - Part 9

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Speaking of short verbs, a few irregular past participles ending in -u are extremely short and depart from their infinitive forms. And to make matters worse, they look very similar. The past participles of savoir, croire, pouvoir, boire, voir, and devoir are su, cru, pu, bu, vu, and dû (known, believed, was able to, drank, must have):

Ce que j'ai pu constater...

What I was able to observe...

Caption 23, Alphabétisation des filles au Sénégal

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Just a quick reminder that past participles sometimes have to agree in gender and number with their objects, which means they take on additional endings. In the following example, vu becomes vus to agree with the masculine plural object, les gens​:

...et les gens qu'elles avaient vus là-bas.

...and the people they had seen there.

Caption 21, Contes de fées La petite sirène - Part 1

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Verbs ending in -ut or -it, as in fut (was) and fit (did), are often the mark of the passé simple or past historic, which is a tense used in fairy tales and other literary or historical works:

La première chose qu'elle vit fut un grand bateau.

The first thing she saw was a large boat.

Caption 25, Contes de fées La petite sirène - Part 1

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Although the past historic is little used, you may come across it from time to time, so it is worth familiarizing yourself with its endings at least. Be aware, though, that some verbs in the past historic look the same as other verbs in the present tense. For example, elle vit (she saw) is a past historic form of voir, but elle vit (she lives) is also a present tense form of vivre:

Mais heureusement ton frère, bon, qui vit à Montréal...

But luckily your brother, well, who lives in Montreal...

Caption 36, Elisa et sa maman La technologie

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And sometimes, a verb conjugated in the same tense can have two different meanings, as in je suis (I am/I follow), which is the first-person singular present of both être (to be) and suivre (to follow). Usually, context is enough to guide you, but it could also be a trick question in an exam! In the video below, the poor koala is having an identity crisis:

Quoi? Je ne suis pas un koala? Mais alors, qui suis-je?

What? I'm not a koala? But then, who am I?

Caption 8, Les zooriginaux 3 Qui suis-je? - Part 1

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And here, you have both meanings of suis within the same caption:

Je suis bien d'accord, ils ne servent à rien. Allez, suis-moi.

I totally agree, they are of no use. Come on, follow me.

Caption 14, Les zooriginaux 2 Tel père tel fils - Part 4

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Speaking of present-tense tricks, the verbs vaincre (to defeat, vanquish) and convaincre (to convince) are the only verbs in the French language that have endings in -c and -cs: je convaincs (I convince), tu convaincs (you convince), il convainc (he convinces). This little nugget of knowledge might come in handy while playing Scrabble, but not so much in conversation.

The past participles of vaincre and convaincre are more straightforward: vaincu, convaincu:

Alors, te voici convaincu? Ne cherche pas ailleurs!

So, are you convinced? Don't look elsewhere!

Caption 10, Il était une fois: L’Espace 3. La planète verte - Part 4

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One verb that draws attention to itself not for its unique present-tense ending but for its unusual infinitive form is the verb se fiche (to not give a damn). Normally it should come with an -r at the end, like all infinitives, but many grammarians, including those at Larousse, make a case for se fiche as the infinitive. In any event, it makes for a vigorous debate among scholars and grammarians. As for most people, ils s’en fichent (they could care less) and use the more regular infinitive version, se ficher. 

Se fiche is most often a conjugated form of the present tense. In the following example, it takes on a different meaning: "kid" or "get a rise out of":

On se fiche de nous ou quoi?

Are you kidding us or what?

Caption 5, Actus Quartier Devant la SNCF

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Finally, some verb tenses have very exotic endings, even to the average French speaker! Endings such as -inssent, -assent, and -ussent, as in qu’ils vinssent/fassent/fussent (that they came/did/were) belong to the imperfect subjunctive, a tense that's hardly ever used. Most French speakers use the present subjunctive even when referring to the past: 

Je voulais que tu viennes.

I wanted you to come.

Very few would use the imperfect subjunctive, unless perhaps for a humorous effect: 

Je voulais que tu vinsses.

I wanted you to come.

While the imperfect subjunctive is a literary verb form, the present subjunctive is not, and is often used in casual conversation. For example, you will need the present subjunctive to say something as simple as “I’ve got to go":

Merci de m'avoir regardée sur Yabla. Maintenant faut que j'y aille.

Thanks for watching me on Yabla. I gotta go now.

Caption 39, B-Girl Frak Limoges

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Vaille que vaille (come what may), don’t hesitate to explore more wondrous verb oddities in your Yabla wanderings by taking full advantage of our videos and lessons. Thank you for reading. Maintenant il faut que nous y allions! Au revoir!

In this lesson, we're going to discuss a very common word that isn't very specific. It's un truc, an informal word for "thing" (une chose has the same meaning). You can use it when you're not quite sure what an object is called:

J'attends que le truc passe parce que ça fait un petit bruit...

I'm waiting for the thing to pass because it's making a little noise...

Caption 82, Lea - Cour Saint-Émilion

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Or when you're talking about something abstract:

On n'a plus de souvenirs. C'est ça, le truc aussi.

We don't have any more memories. That's the thing too.

Captions 25-26, Elisa et sa maman - La technologie

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When someone says "it's not my thing," they're saying they don't really like it (it's not their cup of tea) or they're not really good at it (it's not their forte). There's an exact cognate of this expression in French—ce n'est pas mon truc:

La baignade, c'est pas mon truc. -Oh, moi non plus!

Swimming isn't my thing. -Oh, me neither!

Caption 26, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 25. Technologies - Part 5

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Un truc means "a thing," but it often translates as "something." It's a more informal way of saying quelque chose (something):

Tu sais j'vais te dire un truc. Tu sais c'que c'est qu'une utopie?

You know, I'll tell you something. Do you know what a utopia is?

Caption 70, Actus Quartier - Manif anti-nucléaire à Bastille

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Manon, à toi de commencer. Dis-moi un petit truc en français.

Manon, your turn to start. Tell me a little something in French.

Caption 3, Manon et Clémentine - Virelangues

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Sometimes, un truc (or des trucs) is just "stuff" in general:

Je sais pas encore mais en tout cas je sais que je veux créer un truc.

I don't know yet, but in any case I know that I want to create stuff.

Caption 58, Watt’s In - Louane : Avenir Interview Exclu

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But there is one instance in which truc does have a specific meaning. It's also the word for "trick," as in a magic trick or a clever way of doing something:

Moi, j'ai un truc miraculeux

Me, I have a miraculous trick

Caption 2, Le Mans TV - Benjamin Perrot: "La rébellion du combiné"

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You'll find a synonym for truc in the next caption:

Une astuce qui ne coûte rien

A trick that costs nothing

Caption 3, Le Mans TV - Benjamin Perrot: "La rébellion du combiné"

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Besides ce n'est pas mon truc, there are two expressions with truc with close English cognates. The first is avoir le truc:

Je n'ai pas le truc pour ça.
I don't have the knack for it. 

Tu commences à avoir le truc.
You're getting the hang of it.

The second is chacun son truc (literally, "each his/her thing"), synonymous with chacun ses goûts (there's no accounting for taste; literally, "each his/her tastes"):

J'aime les chats. Tu aimes les chiens. Chacun son truc! / Chacun ses goûts!
I like cats. You like dogs. To each his own!

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Vous commencez à avoir le truc pour "truc"!  Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.