Learn French: Tu aimes la généalogie ? Oui, nous en parlons souvent. - Do you like genealogy? Yes, we talk about it often.

Tu aimes la généalogie ? Oui, nous en parlons souvent.

Do you like genealogy? Yes, we talk about it often.

Breakdown of Tu aimes la généalogie ? Oui, nous en parlons souvent.

you (informal singular)

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Tu aimes la généalogie ? Oui, nous en parlons souvent.

Why do we use en to mean 'it' here instead of la?

The French verb for 'to talk about' is parler de. Because genealogy is an inanimate thing introduced by the preposition de, we must replace the whole phrase (de la généalogie) with the pronoun en.

Where exactly does the pronoun en have to be placed?

Like other object pronouns, en is placed immediately before the conjugated verb. This gives us nous en parlons (literally 'we of it talk'), rather than putting it at the end of the sentence like in English.

Why is there a la before généalogie in the first sentence?

In French, when you express a general like or dislike using verbs such as aimer, adorer, or détester, you must use a definite article (le, la, l', or les). In English, we just say 'genealogy', but French requires la généalogie.

Can I put souvent before the verb, like saying 'we often talk about it' in English?

No, you can never put an adverb between the subject pronoun (nous) and the verb in French. Adverbs like souvent generally go right after the conjugated verb, making it nous en parlons souvent.