Strange use of 'en'?

Paris K.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Strange use of 'en'?

Hi room and experts

Please can someone explain use of  'en' in sentence, 'Nous savons que tu as travaillé dur pour en arriver là'

I am confused because my understanding is that  'en' is used to replace a (de + phrase) proposition following a verb. However, in this case,  I do not see how the verb 'arriver' could have been followed by the  'de' proposition and hence I am confused

Please help 

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Paris, 

As Chris says, there are some verbs that have an idiomatic 'en' in their construction.

S'en aller to leave

is probably the most common one.

Je m'en vais = I am off 

Others include :

En avoir marre/assez-----> J'en ai marre de ses mensonges = I have had enough of his lies

En vouloir à quelqu'un ----> Je lui en veux de m'avoir menti I am mad with him/her for having lied to me

Ne plus en pouvoir -----> Je n'en peux plus! = I am shattered!

There are some with 'y' too.

e.g.

Ça y est! That's it!

J'y vais = I am off

Hope this helps!

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

It's probably best to consider en arriver là as an atomic phrase, meaning "to get there"

Paris K.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

thanks guys. Thats helpful

Strange use of 'en'?

Hi room and experts

Please can someone explain use of  'en' in sentence, 'Nous savons que tu as travaillé dur pour en arriver là'

I am confused because my understanding is that  'en' is used to replace a (de + phrase) proposition following a verb. However, in this case,  I do not see how the verb 'arriver' could have been followed by the  'de' proposition and hence I am confused

Please help 

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