Pronominal adverb y

a. Y is commonly employed as equivalent to à + pronoun (standing usually for a thing). In other words, just as en replaces de + pronoun of the third person, so y replaces à (sur, dans, en, etc.) + it or them, or there. It obeys the rule for the position of object pronouns.

Je vais à l'église. J'y vais. i" am going to church. I go there.

Etes-vous entré dans la maison? Did you go into the house? J'y suis entré avec ma mère. / went into it with my mother.

b. Y replaces à, en (required by a number of verbs) + pronoun of the third person. Common verbs requiring à, en, are the following :

s'attendre à, to expect se fier à, to trust

se consacrer à, to devote oneself to se connaître en, to be a good judge

penser à, to think of of

Je me consacre à la loi. / am devoting myself to {the) law.

Il s'y consacre aussi. He is also devoting himself to it.

Elle se connaît en parfums. She is a good judge of perfumes.

Ma mère s'y connaît aussi. My mother is also a good judge of

them.

Je pense à mes études. / am thinking of my studies.

Il y pense aussi. He is also thinking of them.

45. Irregular verbs. — Study the irregular verbs servir, to serve; se souvenir de, to remember; voir, to see; connaître, to

know, be acquainted with.

EXERCISE

(a) i. Your father will owe too much money if he sends you to college. 2. Are you using your bicycle now? I need it very much. 3. How many pounds of butter did you buy from the old farmer ? 4. When I go to the woods I often do without a bed. 5. My mother will soon send me a pound of it. 6. Let us offer him the food that we have. 7. She was not expecting

it, I am sure.1 8. I remember his father very well. 9. He bought too many apples at the market. 10. Is your sister going there on foot or in a carriage ?

(b) n. I shall need all the money that I have. 12. John did nothing bad this morning. 13. We always have a good time when we are here. 14. She is devoting herself to it night and day. 15. I knew that man when he was a good judge of horses. 16. I shall be satisfied with one pound of butter. 17. How many has she? I had three. 18. Have a good time, my children. 19. She approached the house when they were not looking. 20. She had two pounds when she came.

(c) 21. I don't trust it very much because John broke it yesterday. 22. The waiter served us a fine dinner when we arrived. 23. He used to have more books than his brother. 24. I shall remember it when I see him again. 25. I like these apples very much, but I shall do without them to-day. 26. I used to know this pretty girl ; she talks too much, doesn't she ?

27. There was something pretty on the table in the dining-room.

28. He devoted himself to the study of foreign languages when he was in college. 29. I used to be a good judge of cigars. 30. His sister had as much money as I.

(d) 31. She would have remembered it if she had done it. 32. I am enjoying my ride in the country very much. 33. He brought me three pounds of butter. 34. My father is a good judge of them now. 35. We had a good time last summer when we were at the lake. 36. The cook needs the things that you bought at the store. 37. She would have had as many as her mother if she had not been so lazy. 38. Is John going to church this morning? Yes, but he has already left. 39. She needed the horses this morning when she came back. 40. Mary enjoyed herself at school this morning.

1 Of it, of them, are very often omitted in English, as in this case.. Dq not forget that they are always expressed in French.