Learn French: Tu en reprends ? Je t'en sers. - Are you having some more? I am serving you some.

Word

Tu en reprends ? Je t'en sers.

Meaning

Are you having some more? I am serving you some.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

French

Lesson

Double object pronouns with adverbials (y, en)

Breakdown of Tu en reprends ? Je t'en sers.

you (informal singular)

you, yourself (object pronoun)

of it / of them (quantity)

Questions & Answers about Tu en reprends ? Je t'en sers.

Why does the pronoun te come before en in t'en?

In French, when you have multiple object pronouns before a verb, they follow a strict order. The pronoun en (meaning 'some' or 'of it') is always placed last in the sequence, right before the verb. Because te ends in a vowel and en begins with one, te drops its 'e' to become t'en.

What exactly is the pronoun en replacing in this sentence?

The pronoun en replaces a quantity of something previously mentioned, acting like 'some' or 'any' in English. Here, it stands in for the specific food or drink being offered, such as de la soupe (some soup) or du gâteau (some cake).

Why use reprends rather than a word for eating or drinking?

The verb reprendre literally means 'to take again.' In the context of a meal, it is the natural, idiomatic way to say 'to have some more' or 'to get seconds' of a dish.

Could I drop the en and just say Je te sers since the context is obvious?

No, you cannot drop it. While English allows you to simply say 'I am serving you' and imply the rest, French requires you to represent the object. To say 'I am serving you some [of it],' you must include en.