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!

In a previous lesson on French art vocabulary, we learned that “le cadre is the frame around a painting or photograph.” In this lesson, we will focus on other meanings of cadre (frame) that are not related to art. In the process, we will also discuss related vocabulary such as encadrement (frame, management) and encadrer (to frame, supervise) that are also not always art-related.

 

Indeed, un cadre can take on a more figurative meaning. In the example below, it means “an environment”:

 

On a un cadre qui est vraiment agréable donc les gens viennent.

We have an environment that is really pleasant, so people come.

Caption 59, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 1

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Or, un cadre is simply “a space,” an interior space:

 

On a pris une décoratrice d'intérieur pour nous faire un cadre vraiment zen, épuré

We took on an interior designer to make us a really Zen, clean space

Caption 18, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: à l'Anatable à Dinsheim

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As mentioned in the previous lesson, "un cadre is also the word for 'framework' (as in the expression dans le cadre de, 'within the framework of')":

 

Donc là on leur met - et bien évidemment dans le cadre de ce suivi - une bague du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Paris

So there we put on them - and quite obviously within the framework of this follow-up - a ring from the Paris Museum of Natural History

Captions 13-14, Canal 32 Les secrets des cailles des blés

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The expression dans le cadre de can also mean “within the context of”:

 

et que ça rentre aussi tout à fait dans le cadre du vivre-ensemble

and that it also falls really well within the context of harmonious living

Caption 38, Actus Quartier Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 4

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You might come across a less common meaning of dans le cadre de: “as part of,” as in part of an event, such as the anniversary of a wine route: 

 

Oui. C'est un petit peu aussi dans le cadre du soixantième anniversaire de la route des vins.

Yes. It's a little bit also as part of the sixtieth anniversary of the wine route.

Caption 6, Alsace 20 100 recettes pour 100 vins

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In short, un cadre refers to a space, environment, setting, framework, or context. But you may be surprised to learn that it’s also the word for "executive" or "manager." For example, the mother in the following video is une cadre supérieure (a top executive):

 

Mère de famille, cadre supérieure

Mother of a family, top executive

Caption 7, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 2

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And it seems logical that un poste d’encadrement should refer to "a management position":

 

Découvrons un premier exemple pour un poste d'encadrement.

Let's discover a first example, for a management position.

Caption 64, QuestionEntretien Pourquoi vous et pas un autre ? - Part 3

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Likewise, the verb encadrer means “to organize” or “supervise.” (Note that in an art context, encadrer means to frame a picture or a photograph.) In the video below, the speaker mentions that the annual Paris-Plage event was bien encadré (well organized) thanks to its constant supervising and monitoring:

 

C'est toujours, euh... bien encadré.

It's always, uh... well organized.

Caption 24, Lionel L Paris-Plage - Part 2

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Encadrer is synonymous with surveiller (to supervise, monitor, surveil):

 

Il y a toujours des gens pour encadrer, surveiller.

There are always people to supervise, monitor.

Caption 29, Lionel L Paris-Plage - Part 2

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Encadré in the broader sense of the word means “taken care of.” In the following video, the speaker would like to go on a cruise where everything is encadré:

 

Tout est encadré.

Everything is taken care of.

Caption 40, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 1

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However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, encadré can imply excessive interference to the point of feeling restricted. In the video below, Youssef Ben Amar, a contender in the legislative race, tries to debunk the myth that politics is about imposing restrictions:

 

On nous a vendu le mot "politique" comme quelque chose de très encadré

We've been sold the word "politics" as something very restricted

Captions 14-15, Le Mans TV Youssef Ben Amar, un rappeur engagé en politique

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Worse still, encadrer is not just a criticism—it can also describe something or someone you can't stand:

 

Je ne peux pas me les encadrer.

I can't stomach them.

Caption 85, Le saviez-vous? Comment dire qu'on n'aime pas?

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So, to sum up, encadrer has many meanings, ranging from “to frame," "to supervise", "to organize," "to loathe.” The Yabla team will make sure that you’re bien encadré or bien encadrée (well taken care of) thanks to our numerous videos.

 

\Wishing you every success dans le cadre de Yabla! Thank you for reading.

We've discussed the differences in meaning between the two ways of saying “day" (jour/journée), “morning” (matin/matinée), and “evening” (soir/soirée). Now we’ll take a look at the remaining word pair, an/année (year).

 

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An/année works similarly to the other word pairs. The masculine term (un an) usually refers to a specific point in time with an emphasis on quantity, while its feminine counterpart (une année) focuses on duration, content, and quality. 

 

However, there are many exceptions, mostly with année. So, let’s begin with time expressions that call for année exclusively.

 

The demonstrative adjective ce (this) is always paired with année: cette année (this year).

 

Cette année, nous avons décidé d'interviewer Vincent Glad

This year, we decided to interview Vincent Glad

Caption 20, Caroline - et L'Express

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Even though we can say ce matin/soir/jour (this morning/evening/day), we can never say cet an! Logic doesn’t always apply…

 

We also always use année with ordinal numbers like première/deuxième/dernière (first/second/last). So we say la première année (the first year):

 

Et c'est la première année qu'on a autant de monde qui reste à la party.

And this is the first year that we had so many people stay at the party.

Caption 27, Ultimate frisbee - KYM, le tournoi

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Année is also required with the indefinite adjective quelques (a few): quelques années (a few years). In the conversation below, two friends discuss what they did il y a quelques années (a few years ago):

 

Oh, j'y allais beaucoup avec ma fille, il y a quelques années.

Oh, I used to go there a lot with my daughter a few years ago.

Caption 47, Claire et Philippe - La campagne

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The same rule applies to indefinite plural article des (some), as in depuis des années (for years). In the video below, Caroline tells her friend Amal, who has been singing depuis des années (for years), that she should stop because she’s an awful singer. Apparently, Caroline has been putting up with her bad singing for years:

 

Euh... je sais que tu fais ça depuis des années.

Uh... I know that you've been doing this for years.

Caption 7, Amal et Caroline - Je n'aime pas quand tu chantes

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And Amal is wondering what took Caroline so long to finally tell her what she really thinks. After all, they’ve been friends depuis plusieurs années (for several years):

 

Justement on est amies depuis plusieurs années.

As it happens, we've been friends for several years.

Caption 45, Amal et Caroline - Je n'aime pas quand tu chantes

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Although we say chaque jour (each day), we can’t say chaque an, even though we're referring to a specific point in time. We have to say chaque année (every/each year). In the video below, a journalist asks people on the street if they come to the gay pride parade “every year," first using tous les ans, then chaque année.

 

Tous les ans (every year) is more or less equivalent to chaque année, except it emphasizes the quantity of years. It literally means "all the years":

 

Vous venez tous les ans ou pas? -Oui, tous les ans.

Do you come every year or not? -Yes, every year.

Captions 11-12, Gay Pride - La fierté

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Then the journalist uses chaque année (every year) to emphasize the experience itself:

 

Et pour vous c'est important de... chaque année renouveler, euh...?

And for you is it important to... every year, to repeat, uh...?

Caption 13, Gay Pride - La fierté

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The journalist could have also asked the people combien d’années (how many years) they had been going to the parade:

 

Vous y allez depuis combien d’années?

How many years have you been going there?

 

Finally, we have one more instance that requires année: de/en quelle année (from/in what year). In the example below, Lionel asks de quelle année (from what year) the cloister dates:

 

Et le cloître, il date de quelle année?

And the cloister, it dates from what year?

Caption 1, Lionel - La Cathédrale de Toul - Part 2

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Interestingly, to answer the question de quelle année (from what year), we revert to the masculine term an(s) to refer to the specific point in time:

 

La plus vieille structure

The oldest [umbrella] structure

que l'on ait trouvée

that was found

date de six mille cinq cents ans avant Jésus-Christ.

dates back to six thousand five hundred years before Jesus Christ.

Captions 74-76, Pep's - Réparation de parapluies

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We almost always say an with numbers and dates. So, we use an to date a building or an object and, of course, to describe the age of a person:

 

Pierre a alors vingt-six ans

Pierre was twenty-six years old then

quand est déclenchée la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

when the Second World War started.

Captions 36-37, TV Vendée - Vendée : Pierre Zucchi, 104 ans, raconte ses mémoires

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With time expressions like pendant (for/during), we tend to use ans for counting the years. In the first part of this video, the journalist tells the story of a woman who decided to give up sugar pendant un an (for a year), with an emphasis on a definite time:

 

Elle a décidé de supprimer le sucre de son alimentation pendant un an.

She decided to remove sugar from her diet for a year.

Caption 2, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an - Part 1

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Then the journalist switches to pendant une année (for a year) to emphasize the woman's experience: 

 

Et vous avez raconté cette expérience de supprimer le sucre

And you recounted this experience of removing sugar

de votre alimentation dans cet ouvrage, "Zéro sucre",

from your diet in this book, "Zero Sugar," 

pendant une année.

for a year.

Captions 10-12, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an - Part 1

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As you may have noticed, there is some flexibility within those guidelines depending on the situation. So much so that, sometimes, the choice is entirely yours! For example, the expressions l’an prochain/dernier and l’année prochaine/dernière (next/last year) are pretty much interchangeable, as the difference in meaning is negligible. 

 

Here, the speaker uses l’an dernier to refer to a point in time, but l’année dernière would have worked too:

 

L'an dernier, huit départements français avaient participé à cette enquête.

Last year, eight French departments had participated in this survey.

Caption 17, Canal 32 - Les secrets des cailles des blés

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And in this example, the speaker uses l’année dernière, as the exact timing is not as important as what happened. But he just as well could have said l’an dernier:

 

Ça a commencé l'année dernière.

It started last year.

Caption 6, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 4

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Here are a few examples of idiomatic expressions with an/année.

 

To refer to New Year’s, the public holiday, we say le Nouvel An:

 

...au lendemain du réveillon du Nouvel An.

...to the day after the New Year's Eve celebration.

Caption 34, TV Vendée - Fêtes de fin d’année : manger léger et équilibré

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(Note, however, that when referring to the “new year” in general, we say la nouvelle année.) 

 

And au Nouvel An, on New Year’s Day, it’s customary to wish everyone bonne année et bonne santé (Happy New Year and good health), which is what this Good Samaritan did while visiting the homeless:

 

Merci beaucoup. Bonne année et bonne santé.

Thank you very much. Happy New Year and good health.

Caption 27, Dao Evolution - Noël pour les sans-abris

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Le Nouvel An (New Year’s Day) may be a time to reflect on the old days, like les années cinquante (the fifties), which was a time of decline for the Hôtel Negresco in Nice:

 

La crise économique de mille neuf cent vingt-neuf

The economic crisis of nineteen twenty-nine

ralentissent le fonctionnement de l'hôtel

slow down the operation of the hotel,

qui se trouve au bord de la faillite dans les années cinquante.

which finds itself on the verge of bankruptcy in the fifties.

Captions 27-30, Le saviez-vous? - L'hôtel Negresco - Part 1

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And if nothing fazes you, you might use the slang phrase:

 

Je m’en moque comme de l’an quarante.

I couldn’t care less (literally, "l don't care about it like [I don't care about] the year forty").

 

For more idiomatic expressions, click here.

 

In conclusion, the choice between an and année is somewhat subjective and contradictory with its many exceptions, so let’s recap.

 

Expressions that go with année are as follows:

 

la dernière/première/deuxième année (the last year/first year/second year)

pendant l’année (during the year)

plusieurs années (several years)

quelques années (a few years)

chaque année (each/every year)

toute l’année (all year)

durant/pendant des années (for years)

cette année (this year)

combien d'années (how many years)

quelle année (what year)

 

Expressions that go with either an or année include:

 

l’année dernière/l’an dernier (last year)

l’année prochaine/l’an prochain (next year)

 

Just remember that in general, an is used to refer to a point in time and année to emphasize duration.

 

Bonne journée et bonne lecture! (Enjoy your day, and happy reading!).

In her hit song "Christine," the French artist Christine and the Queens (aka Héloïse Letissier) plays with the phrase tenir debout:

 

Je ne tiens pas debout

I can't stand up

Caption 7, Christine and the Queens - Christine

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Ça ne tient pas debout

It doesn't hold up

Caption 9, Christine and the Queens - Christine

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The expression in the first caption is se tenir debout, which means "to stand up" (literally, "to hold oneself upright"). Since it's a reflexive expression, there should actually be a me in the caption (Je ne me tiens pas debout), but reflexive pronouns are often dropped in informal speech. 

 

Without the reflexive pronoun, tenir debout is an idiomatic expression meaning "to hold up" (its literal translation), "to add up," or "to make sense." 

 

Se mettre debout and se lever are two other common ways of saying "to stand up": 

 

Donc on se lève et l'effet de surprise les fait s'envoler dans le filet.

So we stand up and the surprise effect makes them fly into the net.

Caption 9, Canal 32 - Les secrets des cailles des blés

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Il s'est mis debout quand je suis entré dans la chambre. 
He stood up when I entered the room. 

 

These phrases describe the action of standing up, but if you wanted to describe someone who is already standing, you would use the phrase être debout or even just debout by itself: 

 

Par exemple lui, il était debout, elle, elle était allongée.

For example him, he was standing up, her, she was lying down.

Caption 17, Niko de La Faye - "Visages"

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Debout, une rose à la main

Standing up, a rose in hand

Caption 17, Indila - Love Story

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We can't talk about standing up without also talking about sitting down! There are two expressions for sitting in French: s'asseoir (to sit) and être assis/assise (to be seated): 

 

Le Jardin du Joli Cœur est un tout petit parc

The Jardin du Joli Cœur is a very small park

où on peut s'asseoir tranquillement.

where you can sit quietly.

Caption 38, Joanna - Son quartier

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Tout le reste du temps, je dors... là où je suis assise.

The rest of the time, I sleep... right where I'm sitting.

Caption 15, Le Journal - Les navigateurs du Vendée Globe

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Thanks for reading! If you have a suggestion for a future lesson topic, feel free to email us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.