Language/French/Grammar/Position-of-y-and-en-with-negative-infinitives

Position of y and en with negative infinitives

When y and en appear with negative infinitives, they normally appear directly adjacent to the infinitive, just as all other object pronouns do, but in formal written French they can split the negative:

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Possessive determiners, Omission of the article, Position of object pronouns with faire, laisser, envoyer or verbs of perception + infinitive & Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements.

Most frequent

• Il vaudrait mieux ne pas en parler

It would be better not to speak of it

Formal written French

• Il vaudrait mieux n'en pas parler

Most frequent

• Elle avait décidé de ne plus y penser

She had decided not to think about it any more

Formal written French

• Elle avait décidé de n'y plus penser

Other Lessons

• How to tell the time
• Verb forms — Introduction
• Ce, and compound forms of être
• Days
• Use of the definite article with titles
• Coordination of subject pronouns
• il or ça alternating with noun phrase subjects
• Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of —ment
• Common Mistakes
• Number differences between French and English nouns
• Adverbs ending in —ment derived from the feminine form of an adjective
• Active Voice and Passive Voice
• Subject verb agreement — Agreement with more than one subject linked by “et”
• Past participles used as adjectives with the verb "être"
• Typical use of the definite article