FRENCH NOTE 52 " DANS" " EN"
One learner requested me to write on , " dans" and also to distinguish it from " en ". Hence this post.
1. First let me take up " dans". The basic meaning of dans is " in ", inside an enclosed space or a container.
Mes vêtements sont dans la boîte .
My clothes are in the box.
So when you want to say that something is in a container, you can use " dans"
2. " dans" is used to indicate in how much time in future an action will be performed.
Dans quelque jours, mon père ira en France.
In few days, my father will go to France.
In other words , his going to France will take place after few days from now.
Dans une minute, je t'appellerai.
In a minute, I shall call you.
Dans deux mois, on fêtera le Noël .
In two months, we will celebrate Christmas .
3. " dans " indicates a precise location
Elle s'assoit dans la cour.
She is sitting in the courtyard .
Les enfants jouent dans le jardin.
Children play in the garden.
4. " dans " is used in a figurative sense to denote the mental/ physical condition .
Les habitants de Dharavi vivent dans la misère .
The people of Dharavi live in misery.
Le peuple de Jérusalem vit toujours dans la peur.
5. " dans " takes the meaning of " from" in certain usages.
Je bois dans une verre.
I drink from a glass.
Je prends mes livres dans cette boîte .
I take my books from this box.
6. " dans" also means " around " to indicate an approximation.
Cette chaise pèse dans les 10 kilos.
This chair weighs around 10 kilos.
Cette montre coûte dans les 100 euros.
This watch costs around 100 euros.
7. " dans" means through in certain circumstances
Elle court dans l' herbe.
She is running through the grass.
8. Dans may mean " during " in certain usages.
Dans les années soixantes,la mode étais différente.
During sixties, the fashion was different.
9. Quite a few French verbs are followed by , " dans". I am listing them.
Entrer dans une salle -enter a room
Fouiller dans les poches -to look through the pockets
Lire dans le journal - to read in the newspaper
Partir dans 10 minutes - to leave in 10minutes
Partir dans les montagnes - to leave to the hills
Regarder dans la boîte - to look in the box
Important point
Kindly note that " dans" always follows a noun which is preceded by an article , demonstrative adjective or possessive adjective unlike " en".
Difference in usage between " dans" and " en "
" en" expresses the length of time an action takes.
Kumar a résolu ce problème en 5 minutes.
Kumar solved this problem in 10 minutes.
This means Kumar had taken 10 minutes to solve the problem. In this case " dans" will not be used in French.
Pierre a compris ce leçon en 5 minutes tandis que les autres élèves se sont confondus.
Peter understood this lesson in 5 minutes while the other students got confused.
In other words Peter took only 5 minutes to understand the lesson.
Now you should see point 2 above where I have explained the use of " dans ".
Note that when " dans " is used for time ,the verb will be either in futur or present tense.
When " en " is used for time , the verb will be either in past or present tense. Not a hard and fast rule.
Another important point is when " en " is followed by a noun , generally, you will not find any article before it. You can see my post on " en ".
But this is not the case when " dans " is followed by a noun. I explained it already above.
Remember while translating from French to English and vice versa , there is no strict one to one correspondence. A French word will be translated in several ways depending on the context. Each language has got its own peculiarities, idiosyncrasies , genius and what not. Attaining mastery is a painstaking job.
On dit que c'est une tâche de longue haleine .
Please leave your comments.
Thank you.
À bientôt !
Sayee Jayaraman
25/02/2015
One learner requested me to write on , " dans" and also to distinguish it from " en ". Hence this post.
1. First let me take up " dans". The basic meaning of dans is " in ", inside an enclosed space or a container.
Mes vêtements sont dans la boîte .
My clothes are in the box.
So when you want to say that something is in a container, you can use " dans"
2. " dans" is used to indicate in how much time in future an action will be performed.
Dans quelque jours, mon père ira en France.
In few days, my father will go to France.
In other words , his going to France will take place after few days from now.
Dans une minute, je t'appellerai.
In a minute, I shall call you.
Dans deux mois, on fêtera le Noël .
In two months, we will celebrate Christmas .
3. " dans " indicates a precise location
Elle s'assoit dans la cour.
She is sitting in the courtyard .
Les enfants jouent dans le jardin.
Children play in the garden.
4. " dans " is used in a figurative sense to denote the mental/ physical condition .
Les habitants de Dharavi vivent dans la misère .
The people of Dharavi live in misery.
Le peuple de Jérusalem vit toujours dans la peur.
5. " dans " takes the meaning of " from" in certain usages.
Je bois dans une verre.
I drink from a glass.
Je prends mes livres dans cette boîte .
I take my books from this box.
6. " dans" also means " around " to indicate an approximation.
Cette chaise pèse dans les 10 kilos.
This chair weighs around 10 kilos.
Cette montre coûte dans les 100 euros.
This watch costs around 100 euros.
7. " dans" means through in certain circumstances
Elle court dans l' herbe.
She is running through the grass.
8. Dans may mean " during " in certain usages.
Dans les années soixantes,la mode étais différente.
During sixties, the fashion was different.
9. Quite a few French verbs are followed by , " dans". I am listing them.
Entrer dans une salle -enter a room
Fouiller dans les poches -to look through the pockets
Lire dans le journal - to read in the newspaper
Partir dans 10 minutes - to leave in 10minutes
Partir dans les montagnes - to leave to the hills
Regarder dans la boîte - to look in the box
Important point
Kindly note that " dans" always follows a noun which is preceded by an article , demonstrative adjective or possessive adjective unlike " en".
Difference in usage between " dans" and " en "
" en" expresses the length of time an action takes.
Kumar a résolu ce problème en 5 minutes.
Kumar solved this problem in 10 minutes.
This means Kumar had taken 10 minutes to solve the problem. In this case " dans" will not be used in French.
Pierre a compris ce leçon en 5 minutes tandis que les autres élèves se sont confondus.
Peter understood this lesson in 5 minutes while the other students got confused.
In other words Peter took only 5 minutes to understand the lesson.
Now you should see point 2 above where I have explained the use of " dans ".
Note that when " dans " is used for time ,the verb will be either in futur or present tense.
When " en " is used for time , the verb will be either in past or present tense. Not a hard and fast rule.
Another important point is when " en " is followed by a noun , generally, you will not find any article before it. You can see my post on " en ".
But this is not the case when " dans " is followed by a noun. I explained it already above.
Remember while translating from French to English and vice versa , there is no strict one to one correspondence. A French word will be translated in several ways depending on the context. Each language has got its own peculiarities, idiosyncrasies , genius and what not. Attaining mastery is a painstaking job.
On dit que c'est une tâche de longue haleine .
Please leave your comments.
Thank you.
À bientôt !
Sayee Jayaraman
25/02/2015
No comments:
Post a Comment