Breakdown of L'apiculteur a failli perdre la colonie, mais il en a sauvé la reine.
il
he
mais
but
avoir
to have
en
in, to
perdre
to lose
sauver
to save (a life, rescue)
la reine
the queen
faillir
to almost (do)
l'apiculteur
the beekeeper (m)
la colonie
the colony
Questions & Answers about L'apiculteur a failli perdre la colonie, mais il en a sauvé la reine.
Why do we use en here instead of just saying mais il a sauvé sa reine?
In French, it is generally preferred to use the pronoun en plus a definite article like la instead of a possessive adjective (son, sa, ses) when referring to parts of an inanimate object or concept. Here, the colony is treated as an inanimate entity, so "its queen" becomes en a sauvé la reine (saved the queen of it) rather than a sauvé sa reine.
Since en represents "its", why do we still need the word la before reine?
The pronoun en literally means "of it" rather than acting as a direct possessive adjective. Because il en a sauvé la reine structurally translates to "he saved the queen of it", you still need the definite article la to say "the queen".
Why is en placed before the auxiliary verb a rather than later in the sentence?
En is an object pronoun. In the passé composé, object pronouns must be placed immediately before the conjugated auxiliary verb (avoir or être). That is why we say il en a sauvé and not il a sauvé en.
How does a failli perdre mean "almost lost"?
The verb faillir followed directly by an infinitive is a set structure used to say that someone "almost" did something or that an event "nearly" happened. To express this in the past, it is almost always used in the passé composé: a failli plus the infinitive perdre.
Learn L'apiculteur a failli perdre la colonie, mais il en a sauvé la reine and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free