Breakdown of Nous n'avons pas de vaches et nous n'en voulons pas.
et
and
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
vouloir
to want
en
of it / of them (quantity)
la vache
the cow
Questions & Answers about Nous n'avons pas de vaches et nous n'en voulons pas.
What exactly does en replace in the second half of the sentence?
en replaces the idea of "any cows" (de vaches). In French, when you talk about quantities and want to say "any" or "some" without repeating the noun, you use the adverbial pronoun en. So instead of repeating nous ne voulons pas de vaches (we do not want any cows), we say nous n'en voulons pas (we do not want any).
Why is en placed before voulons instead of at the end of the sentence like "any" is in English?
In French, object pronouns like en almost always go immediately before the conjugated verb they are connected to. Even in a negative sentence, en sticks closely to the verb, which is why it is placed right before voulons, squeezed safely inside the negative ne ... pas sandwich: nous n'en voulons pas.
Why does the second part say n'en instead of ne en?
In the first part, why is it pas de vaches instead of pas des vaches?
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