Ils récoltent aussi des légumes et ils en vendent cent kilos.

Questions & Answers about Ils récoltent aussi des légumes et ils en vendent cent kilos.

What exactly does en replace in this sentence?
It replaces des légumes (vegetables). When you specify a quantity like cent kilos, French uses the pronoun en to represent the noun being counted so you don't have to repeat it. It translates perfectly to "of them" here.
Why is en placed before the verb vendent?
In French, object pronouns like en must go immediately before the conjugated verb. Even though in English we put "of them" at the very end of the sentence, French structures it literally as "they of-them sell a hundred kilos" (ils en vendent cent kilos).
Why does the French say cent instead of un cent for "a hundred"?
Unlike in English where we say "a hundred" or "one hundred", French never uses un before cent or mille (a thousand). You simply say the word itself.
The English translation just says "vegetables." Why is there a des before légumes?
In English, we can use a plural noun by itself to mean an unspecified amount. French, however, almost always requires an article before a noun. des is the plural indefinite article (the plural of un or une), acting like "some" in English.

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