In part three of Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés, one of our new videos this week, Anne-Sophie and Frédéric receive some shocking paternity test results that throw a wrench into their already troubled marriage. Less scandalously, the video also features three common set phrases featuring the pronoun en. Though en usually replaces de + a noun, it doesn't really translate to anything in these three idioms. It's just along for the ride. 

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Anne-Sophie uses the first expression, ne pas en croire ses yeux (to not believe one's eyes), when describing her reaction to the unbelievable test results: 

Je n'en croyais pas mes yeux.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Caption 5, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...

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Later, when she calls Frédéric to tell him the news, she says: 

Rappelle-moi de toute urgence. Je t'en supplie!

Call me back urgently. I beg you!

Caption 12, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...

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Je t'en supplie (or je vous en supplie in formal speech) is an impassioned, urgent way of saying "please" (just like "I beg you" or "I implore you" in English). It's very similar to another en idiom, je t'en prie, which can mean the same thing:

Je t'en prie, arrête, arrête

I'm begging you, stop, stop

Caption 30, Indila - Love Story

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But unlike je t'en supplie, je t'en prie can also mean "you're welcome": 

Oh, je t'en prie, y a pas de quoi, hein.

Oh, you're welcome. Don't mention it, OK?

The narrator uses the most idiomatic of these expressions when describing Frédéric's state of mind: 

Il lui en veut toujours mais la donne va bientôt changer.

He is still mad at her, but the situation will soon change.

Caption 17, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...

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Vouloir means "to want," but en vouloir à means "to be mad at." The en makes quite a difference here! Note the indirect object pronoun lui in this example, which stands for à + elle, as we mentioned in a previous lesson.

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When you make this expression reflexive (s'en vouloir), it doesn't mean "to be mad at oneself," but rather "to feel guilty": 

Je m'en veux vraiment de ne pas t'avoir cru; je suis vraiment désolée.

I feel really guilty for not having believed you; I'm really sorry.

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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.